Time And Time Again
by EleBother
Summary: Full details inside. When the Doctor gets Rose back finally, everything should fall into place. But when their lives are invaded by an old enemy of the Doctor, things will never be the same :P With the 10th Doctor, Rose, Martha, Donna, Mickey and Matt. :D
1. Prologue

**PLEASE READ!  
Just a little info on the story: This is something I'm writing for my friends but felt that I could put it up here for all of you to read.  
This fanfic may not make any sense at all, it can sometimes be quite out of character for the four main characters, it contains occasional crossovers to all three CSI's, mainly Vegas and NY, but you don't really need to watch them to understand it.  
There are a few characters that you will not have heard of, because they belong to x_gemarrrr and myself, but anything you recognise does not belong to me.  
At times it flicks to AU, but that is supposed to make sense within the story.  
Just a heads up, hope you followed it. Enjoy!**

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_Prologue_

I could always see the love around me that they shared for each other. I will never for one moment regret what I became, I will always cherish those moments when I had nothing else but him. And he had no one else but me.

The power I felt was incredible, he would show me every single emotion other than love. I will never look back.

Some people deal with love in different ways. Some would care for the person they loved and do anything for them. Would they die for them? Maybe. But they don't understand the way I went about it. I was so obsessed with the thought of having him all to myself that I would sacrifice anything that made him happy. I didn't care either because it just made it easier for me.

He was too weak to refuse and when I had him I never wanted to let him go. But I did. He never realised that I did in fact leave him alone for weeks at a time because I knew that he hated me. I wanted to do something that made him care for me and that was to leave him.

All he ever felt was relief. And annoyance and devastation when I came back. It never stopped me though because I was selfish. I knew that and everyone hated me for it.

But I got what I wanted, I had him for those short, beautiful moments and in the end he pitied me.

Finally.

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**The prologue is from the point of view of a made up character, hense why it probably makes no sense at all...**

**Even if it didn't, if you liked it/have any comments, please review, if not now, later in the story. Reviews will keep me going and make my day. :D  
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	2. Welcome To Torchwood

**Hey, so here's the first chapter. I don't own anything in this one unfortunately :P Enjoy!**

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**_Chapter 1: Welcome To Torchwood_

"You're not telling me he's actually following us?" asked the Doctor incredulously, holding the TARDIS door open for Donna to dart inside.

"Of course he's bloody following us, do you think I enjoy all this running?" Donna shouted back impatiently. With a groan, the Doctor flung himself to the other side of the console, pulled a lever and they plummeted into the vortex. Clearly not out of breath, the Doctor jumped around the TARDIS pushing buttons and pulling levers as he went. Donna, after bending over for several minutes threw herself down onto the TARDIS chair.

"You do make me laugh sometimes Donna; any other companion would have expected me to do something about him." The Doctor grinned at her and joined her in the chair.

"I'll give you something to laugh about, that thing nearly had me. Like you'd have bothered though, you were already miles ahead."

The Doctor chuckled again, avoiding her intimidating gaze and made to get up. He was interrupted however by the TARDIS jerking so violently that Donna and himself went flying over the back of the chair and crashing into one of the many coral-like columns that circled the TARDIS.

"Bloomin' hec Doctor, what the hell was that? No don't tell me, a hyper-transfusion error caused by malfunctions within the vortex?"

The Doctor stared at her as if she'd grown another head. Donna rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, I'm kidding." The Doctor gave a sigh of relief and Donna shook her head. "Muppet."

The Doctor, choosing to ignore that comment, steadily walked towards the doors, with Donna close behind him. He could hear shouting from outside and a couple of voices he distinctly recognised. They stepped out into what looked like a basement full of weird and wonderful things that only one company would have been able to get hold of, all over the place, even in the corners were numerous alien looking objects, gadgets that must have been taken from the future. Frowning, the Doctor looked around and came face to face with his ex-companion Martha Jones.

"Martha!" he exclaimed. He pulled her into a huge hug that lifted her off her feet. Donna, having met Martha recently lunged forward to greet her. "I thought you were with UNIT?" asked the Doctor.

Martha shrugged. "I was, but then Captain Jack found me and thought it best that I came back here. I was here before I went to UNIT you see, they just can't get rid of me."

The Doctor tried to force out a smile.

"So, Jack'll be here to then? Ah, speak of the devil," he said as Jack came striding purposefully towards them.

"Doctor. What are you doing here?" Jack tried to seem friendly but there was obviously something wrong with the Doctor's presence, although he did drop his shifty gaze for a moment to look Donna up and down, the presence of a new female companion would not go unnoticed in Jack's mind, and neither would a person trying to hide something in the Doctor's.

"Nice to see you too Captain. And, in answer to your question, I assume that someone wants me here because I was brought here," he said, tapping the TARDIS doors. "Unless she just wanted to see you. I'm thinking not." Martha rolled her eyes at the Doctor's usual curiosity but Jack however suddenly started to look suspicious. The Doctor also noticed this. "Ah. Then I'm guessing you know why we've been brought here." The Doctor strode off, Martha, Jack and Donna jogging to keep up with him.

"Doctor, there's nothing wrong with anything here, I can assure you," yelled Jack from behind.

"Somehow I don't believe you, what is it you're doing here?" the Doctor replied. Before Jack could catch up and respond, the Doctor hauled himself up a set of stairs and pushed his way through a door, out of sight from the rest of the workers.

The others followed him into a huge white room that looked horribly familiar to the Doctor. Ahead of them was a plain wall, painted white. It blinded the Doctor with his own memories and forced him to look at nothing else, making the pain of the memories even more, but in the middle was a large porthole, gradually increasing in size. The Doctor squinted whilst he looked at it whereas the others couldn't look at all, as though there was some sort of force repelling their gaze. It made them all feel slightly uneasy. The Doctor fumbled in his pockets and put on his glasses. He jogged up to the wall and placed his palm on the surface. It was almost as though the wall was giving off a pulse that passed through the Doctor's hand and quickened the beating of his hearts. He brushed his hand over the paint and knocked a few times.

He reached for his screwdriver and began sonicking the edges of the porthole, nothing happened except maybe it grew by a few millimetres. He sniffed at the emptiness though the hole and turned slowly to face Jack, his curious face now extremely menacing.

"You're far too inquisitive Doctor," said Jack. The Doctor ran towards him and grabbed him by the scruff of his neck.

"What the hell are you planning here, Captain?" he shouted at Jack, spitting out the last word.

Jack brushed the Doctor's hands away and laughed. "You always suspect the worst don't you Doctor." He strode over to the porthole and peered through. "This is going to take you back to Rose, and bring her back over. If you like. It's a teleport through the void and ends up in Torchwood on parallel earth, where she's working."

The Doctor's expression remained stony he turned away from Jack, refusing to look him in the eye. "You think this thing will do the world any good?" he yelled. "You do realise that something as big as that can ultimately rip this world apart," Jack walked over to him, so their noses were but an inch apart.

"For Rose, would you not do it?" The Doctor didn't answer. He couldn't think of an answer. Rose. What he wouldn't give to see her again. But to sacrifice the Earth, that was going too far. He didn't even know if Jack was telling the truth, and whether this would actually take him to Rose, or straight into the void. He breathed in sharply and turned to Martha and Donna, who were both completely clueless as to what was going on.

"Martha, I need you to stay here with Jack, make sure he doesn't go through, the consequences could be disastrous. Donna, come with me." And he made to go for the door. Jack called back after him.

"Doctor, what are you doing?"

"I'm going to find some way of closing that thing for good. Whatever you do, don't go through looking for Rose, and as much as it pains me to say it, neither will I. I'm warning you Jack, don't. Neither will I." And with that he strode off with an anxious Donna in tow.

"What he thinks he's playing at I'll never know, stupid man, how on Earth could he think that that was safe." The Doctor was muttering to himself more than to Donna and she struggled to keep up with him.

"Doctor, I'm not even going to ask what's going on because I'll get confused, but how are you going to find something to close this hole in the wall, seems pretty complicated to me. Clearly not a case of putting something in front of it and hoping for the best." The Doctor was just about to turn round and answer when he heard Martha's voice shouting to them.

"Doctor! Donna!" She ran up to them and gasped for breath. "He's gone through, I tried to stop him, but as soon as I was far enough away he ran through it. I'm sorry." The Doctor sprinted back up the stairs and into the room. Martha and Donna joined him shortly afterwards, clutching their sides.

"What are you going to do?" asked Donna. The Doctor looked around at them.

"Well. I suppose, the Earth's reasonably safe right now, no great big tear in the atmosphere, there's only one thing I can do." He sprinted through the porthole and disappeared from sight. Martha and Donna looked at each other, shrugged and followed suit.

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**Okay, I'm not the biggest Captain Jack fan..this will become much more obvious in later chapters. Thanks for reading.**

**I'm only updating when I get reviews. It may seem silly, but I only want to carry this on if I know that people are reading and enjoying. :D:D  
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	3. A Reunion

**Just to put on thing straight first, because I may have portrayed Rose in a bad light. I do love Rose, she's brilliant, but the story wouldn't be as interesting without her character having a darker side. :P And again, sorry to the Cpt Jack fans. I actually quite like Jack, but once again, good storylines must be made :D**

**Thanks to all the reviewers, you're all amazing.**

**Enjoy (:**

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_Chapter 2: Rose's Return_

Martha and Donna were thrown violently straight into the Doctor. They straightened up and glanced around. This was a lot more like the Torchwood that used to be situated inside Canary Wharf until it was overthrown and destroyed by the war that had led to Rose being here. They were standing in the room that Rose had been pulled into. They had fallen out of a porthole in an identical wall now facing them. There was no sign of Jack, he had obviously run off straight away, so Martha and Donna, once again had to run to catch up with the Doctor as he sped off.

The girls struggled to keep up with the Doctor even when he slowed down to long strides. They were making their way down a long corridor and he started to run again, as though he knew exactly where he was going, but Martha and Donna both knew perfectly well that he didn't have a clue. They lunged round the corner and straight into a worker, Martha and Donna had no idea who this man was but the Doctor clearly did as his face burst into a broad grin and they embraced. They pulled apart and stared at each other, like two school friends after the summer holidays.

"Mickey Smith, what a surprise to see you here," exclaimed the Doctor. Mickey shrugged but then frowned slightly at him.

"I might say the same thing. What're you doing here?" The Doctor thrust his hands inside his pockets and looked at the floor.

"I didn't want to, but Captain Jack jumped through this porthole he'd been building through here and I think he's gone to find Rose, and I need to find him, bring him back through and close the breach for good." Mickey snorted.

"Ha, like you're going anywhere without seeing Rose. She's working on something at the moment, I'm sure she won't mind you of all people visiting her. Although..." He stopped and peered behind the Doctor's shoulder at Martha in particular but eyeing Donna as well. "I'd quite like you to introduce me to your little crew here." Martha put forward her hand quickly for him to shake.

"Martha Jones, nice to meet you," she said. Donna kept her hands in her pockets and merely nodded, clearly not knowing what the people of Parallel World were like.

"Donna Noble, she's like that," said the Doctor. "Come on then."

"Someone's eager," laughed Mickey, causing the side of the Doctor's mouth to twitch slightly. "I best explain to you what's going on. The cybermen are still around, they've been manipulated to becoming people's personal robot servants now. Everyone thought they were safe, but obviously they've malfunctioned, because, y'know, that's what cybermen do. So they're at large again, though, fortunately, not killing as much as they would normally do, more, holding people hostage. Thing is, the code we used to get rid of them last time you were here isn't working anymore, they've grown immune to it which is typical really. Anyway, we've got a few cybers here that haven't malfunctioned yet, at least we don't think they have, well no one's dead yet so we presume so. But we're trying to figure out the new code, but none of our equipment seems to be able to translate the readings in the chip that they all have in the back of their necks, though, thinking about it, I bet the TARDIS could, that thing can do anything, but Rose is taking a cyberman apart now, hoping she might be able to gather some more information." They arrived at a door at the end of a corridor, a small window in the top. Mickey gestured to the Doctor to go in, but he suddenly collapsed back on the wall. Mickey frowned. "Well, she's in there, go on," the Doctor shook his head.

"I can't. She's in there and I just come in? I can't do that." Mickey rolled his eyes and the Doctor looked up at the window. He noticed a cyberman head that had been taken apart and had wires sticking out all over the place, something he couldn't help but investigate further, he rushed through the door and gazed at the array of wires within the head.

It was as though the wires in the Doctor's head had suddenly become live as he remembered the reason he was reluctant to come into the room in the first place. He looked up from the cyberman and there she was, a look of shock and confusion etched on her face. They gazed at each other for what could have been an enormous amount of time. Rose swallowed, stepped towards him and reached out her right hand to his face. This time he didn't stop it, he took it in his own and pulled her into an embrace that lifted her off her feet and spun her round. No words could express how much he had missed her, yet the hug said 'hello' in ways that words could not imagine. After what could have been a lifetime they broke apart and looked at each other again. Rose's face broke into an enormous grin that brightened the whole room. The Doctor laughed and smiled back at her. Mickey was grinning to himself and he glanced over at Jackie Tyler who was sitting in a corner of the room with a look of annoyance on her face. Martha and Donna both had tears trickling down their cheeks with the same three words going through their minds. He found her.

"Rose Tyler," said the Doctor, still in disbelief that she was in front of him. Rose swallowed back tears, clearly thinking the same thing.

"That'd be me," she managed to get out before breaking down and tears flooding her face. The Doctor took her head and held it to his chest and stroked her hair, she calmed down and wiped her face, "I'm sorry, but it's just—."

She was cut short as the door sprung open and Captain Jack strode in. He looked at Rose for a moment, smiled at her, not bothered about the fact that her face was blotched with black and her eyes were red and bloodshot. He strode past the Doctor, took Rose's head in his hands and kissed her. The Doctor's jaw dropped in shock, and did even more so when Rose started to kiss him back. He stepped back to where Martha and Donna were standing dumbstruck and stared at the floor. Donna patted his arm and Martha took his hand and gently brushed it with her thumb. The couple finally detached.

"Hey there beautiful, it's good to finally see you again," Jack said, caressing her nose with his finger. The Doctor wanted to be sick.

"Yeah, it's wonderful," replied Rose, "a bit earlier than I expected and you brought guests as well?" Jack grimaced.

"I didn't intend to bring them, but they ended up in Torchwood and being the Doctor, he found the porthole in no time." The Doctor's head was buzzing, he took a step forward.

"Hold on. You were expecting him?" Rose looked at him with a pleading look, whereas Jack answered his question.

"I've been in contact with Rose for a while now. We're getting married."

Those last words hit the Doctor like a thousand daggers and he looked from Rose to Jack. "How long?" he asked. They seemed to be the only words he could get out.

"About a year," said Rose. The Doctor stared incredulously at Jack.

"A year? So you were in contact with her when you decided to join me and Martha at the end of the universe?" This time it was Rose who was shocked.

"Jack, you said you'd tell the Doctor if you saw him, and you told me you hadn't. You've never lied to me before." The Doctor couldn't take this anymore.

"Right, we need to sort out this business with the cybermen. Mickey, you and Jack go one way, Martha, you take Rose with you. We need to find some way of getting the code, I have an idea that will probably work but this cyberman's been taken apart so I can't use that one, I need one that's malfunctioned. You lot, try and find one and lure it back through the porthole, through Torchwood and into the TARDIS. Donna, come with me." The others made to leave when there was a cough from the corner. The Doctor spun around to find an indignant Jackie stood up with her arms folded.

"And what do I do, stay here and make cakes?" she asked.

"That'd be nice, but there's no flour here, how about some tea instead?" replied the Doctor, but Jackie was having none of it. She followed the Doctor and Donna out of the door and the Doctor, too swamped with thoughts on Jack and Rose didn't tell her to stay put.

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They carried on down a corridor away from the other couples, Donna wanted to say something. The silence was hardly bearable but she was afraid of what the Doctor might do if anyone interrupted his thoughts. At long last, Jackie broke the tension.

"You're a grumpy sod aren't you, just because Rose has found someone else other than you." Donna struggled to contain herself, she understood that the Doctor was hurting right now, but something about this woman just made her giggle. The Doctor, however, said nothing. "You can't just stay feeling sorry for yourself all the time," continued Jackie, "you've gotta get over her finally and let her get on with her life without you interrupting all the time. I mean you'd think that after finding yourself another couple of lady friends you'd—." But the Doctor suddenly stopped and shushed her. They could hear thudding coming from round the corner. The Doctor grabbed Donna and Jackie by the elbows and shoved them through the nearest door. Jackie still wouldn't shut up though. "Tell you what, you don't half have a grip, that bloody hurt, that did." The Doctor spun round and whispered at her through gritted teeth.

"You don't shut up now and that cyberman is going to kill us all." The thudding was getting closer.

"Alright, temper, temper." The thudding stopped.

"Show yourselves," came the robotic tone from outside. The Doctor rolled his eyes and in a flash, whipped his sonic screwdriver out, flung open the door and buzzed at the cyberman on the back of it's head. It froze and the faint light from it's mouth went out. The Doctor prized open the cyberman's neck and took a small piece of metal from within. He tossed it around from hand to hand; it was clearly quite hot. After it had cooled down, he put it in his pocket and ran back down the corridor, Donna and Jackie, really quite confused, followed him.

On their way back they ran into Jack and Mickey, they'd had no luck with finding cybermen, however the Doctor quickly told them he had the chip and together they ran back to the porthole. They all jumped through and ran back through Torchwood to the TARDIS. The Doctor, not wanting to waste time, ran ahead and starting scanning the chip from the cyberman with his screwdriver and reading from the TARDIS screen. The door had been left open for Rose and Martha, who made to follow the others. The Doctor looked up to see them sprinting through Torchwood back to them. However, when they were only a metre from the TARDIS, the doors snapped shut, leaving them outside. The Doctor ran to the doors but they didn't open, and he could hear the girls banging on the other side, trying to get in.

"Martha, Rose, you need to go back and disable the cybermen, we'd help, but we can't get out. You're our only chance, I'm afraid," shouted the Doctor, "I'll text one of you the code and you need to find the main control room, Rose you'll know what to do."

Martha looked at Rose and nodded, they strode off, back up the stairs and through the porthole. They hadn't spoken much when looking for the cybermen. Martha didn't really know what was going on between Jack and Rose, but she knew that she was on the Doctor's side, and he didn't seem overly impressed by Rose's actions, so naturally neither was Martha. She then felt her phone vibrate in her pocket, she pulled it out and opened the Doctor's message. _'The c__hip I've got gives the code 38250725# be careful, and good luck. Doctor x' _Martha could feel Rose's breathing over her shoulder, she stepped around Martha and led the way purposefully to the main control room, she trusted Rose's judgement on where the room was and cautiously followed her.

They had no problems with cybermen on the way their, except a fright when they found the stationary cyberman that the Doctor had frozen and left. They managed to get to the main control room in no time, but they looked through the window to find a group of them around a console in the far corner.

"Please don't tell me that's the one we need," whispered Martha, Rose shook her head and gently pushed the door open. She gestured at Martha to give her the phone, and to stay put. Martha handed it over and reluctantly stayed where she was.

Rose crept inside and ducked down, she practically crawled to the middle of the room without being noticed. She peered up above the console in the centre and discreetly pushed the button in the middle. A loud buzz from the console grabbed the cybermen's attention and they turned round to face her. She needed to wait for the machine to warm up before she could type in the code and be done with it but that could take a while, seeing as she'd only just activated it. She backed out of the door with cybermen following her, she gestured at Martha to hide quickly and passed her back the phone, indicating that she should probably go back in once the cybermen were out. Martha hid herself behind the door and watched three cybermen march out after Rose, she ducked as one of them fired at her and she hurtled down the corridor as fast as she could to escape from them. Martha peered back inside the control room, the lights around the central console were on and the cybermen were back where they were. Quietly as she could, Martha tip-toed inside to the machine. She found the Doctor's message and began typing out the code. Unfortunately each number she pressed issued a loud beep and the cybermen noticed her, however Martha had already entered the last digit but nothing happened.

"You are a trespasser. You will be deleted," said one of the cybermen. Martha straightened up.

"Is that so? Well I'm not too keen on that idea, so I'm really hoping that this is the Enter button." She lightly pushed down the green button near the numbers and the cybermen froze, the lights in their mouths went out and they crashed to the floor. Martha was also frozen to the spot, not entirely aware of what she'd just done when the door flew open. She spun round to see Rose there, breathing heavily from running all over the place. She got her breath back and grinned at Martha, who laughed and ran to hug her.

They made their way back through the porthole as Rose thanked her for being there to help. Rose stopped Martha when they were on the other side and placed her hand on the wall next to the hole, it immediately closed up and left a bare white wall, Rose felt around it with her hand.

"Closed," she said, "for good." She looked over at Martha who looked confused. "Jack used my DNA to open it from the other side, and it looks like I was able to close it as well." She turned and made her way through the door, turning for one last look before following Martha to the TARDIS.

They came up to the TARDIS and knocked. It was Donna who opened the door for them and she smiled when she saw them.

"How did the TARDIS manage to open again then?" asked Martha. The Doctor looked up from his hands, which had been on his head and stood up from the seat.

"Must have been when you typed in the code, thank you."

"No problem," smiled Martha and she came over to join him. Rose, however didn't say anything and walked quietly over to Jack who grabbed her into a firm hold around her waist. Martha looked at them and then down at the Doctor who was sitting down again.

"She doesn't look happy Doctor," she whispered, "look at her." He did but not for long. He shrugged and rubbed his face.

"Right everyone, back to good old London town." He pulled the lever and grinned at Martha and Donna. "Allon-zy!"

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**This isn't great writing I'm afraid, hopefully it improves :D**

**You review, I update. That's how I'll be doing it (: **

**It does get more interesting, though admittedly more domestic and less adventure like. But don't let that put you off! :D  
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	4. Confusions

**I forgot to mention last chapter, this is set during Series 4, post Unicorn and The Wasp, and pre Silence in the Library.**

**Okay, I warned you about the domestic, fluffy stuff. Well, it starts here. Enjoy :D**

**And apologies about the bad, bad writing :P**

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**_Chapter 3: Confusions  
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Once they arrived back in London they all waved goodbye to each other and went separate ways back to their respective houses. Jackie and Mickey headed one way off to the Powell Estate in deep conversation. Martha watched him walk away feeling dazed, she felt her stomach flip and she smiled to herself. Jack led Rose off to find a hotel, Rose looked over her shoulder at the Doctor who watched her go. Their eyes met and hers were welling up, but before the Doctor could do anything, Jack had taken her round the corner and out of sight. Donna had noticed both of them but didn't say anything. But she then glanced down at Martha's left hand. There was no ring on her fourth finger and Donna stepped over to her and lifted the hand.

"What happened?" she asked quietly. Martha smiled again.

"It's fine, honestly. He was just away too long, and he asked me to come where he was because he didn't want to leave. But I couldn't stay away from my family for long, and plus I was starting work with UNIT and rather enjoying it." Donna looked less worried and turned to the Doctor.

"Right guys, I'm off back home for a while. I've got to tell Grandad I met Agatha Christie, he'll be so jealous." She practically bounced off down the road, leaving just the Doctor and Martha outside the TARDIS.

"Sorry about your engagement," said the Doctor, Martha shrugged. "I take it you'll be off too then." Martha nodded.

"Before I do though, I'd quite like for you to tell me about this Mickey," she said. The Doctor laughed.

"Tell you what, I'll walk home with you and next time I see him I'll tell him how wonderful you are." Martha hugged him and skipped alongside him holding his hand as he filled her in on his experiences and thoughts of Mickey Smith.

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The Doctor had sung Martha's praises to Mickey, but he wasn't too sure, though he did take Martha out for dinner. Rose, Donna and the Doctor were in the Powell Estate waiting for them to come back. Donna was in between the Doctor and Rose and no one was really saying much, and they hadn't for the past hour. The silence was broken by the door opening and Jack walking through the living room door. Donna and the Doctor slumped back on the sofa and Rose got up, annoyed that Jack was here. He took her to one side and kissed her, she was less keen to kiss him back this time having spent far too much time with him and was becoming less fond of him.

"Rose, I've got a surprise for you," he said. Rose swallowed. "I've grown too impatient to be married to you and I've pushed the wedding forward to a week on Saturday." Rose stared at him but said nothing, the look in his eyes made her realise that she couldn't refuse so she nodded and hugged him, whilst trying to hold down the lump in her throat. When they broke apart Jack nodded at the other two who ignored him and walked out of the door leaving Rose to rush up to her bedroom without looking back at the others.

"Doctor, are you okay?" asked Donna tentatively. The Doctor looked at her. It was clear that Donna understood him and he had never been more grateful. He nodded and got up from the sofa. Donna got up too and followed him out of the door, whether he had wanted her too or not. They passed Mickey on the stairs and tried to ask him how his date with Martha went, but he merely shrugged and carried on upstairs. The Doctor looked at Donna who was looking curious clearly wondering what had happened at dinner and they both ran out to the TARDIS.

They ran down the road to Martha's house and knocked loudly on her door. When she opened it, they saw her eyes were red and puffy and she was in her pyjamas already. The Doctor went in and hugged her and Donna patted her back and then went off to make a cup of tea. The Doctor shook his head at her and mouthed that they should leave her alone. He took Martha's head from underneath his chin and smiled at her.

"Don't worry," he said soothingly, "I won't ask what happened now, I'll leave you tonight, but it can't have been that bad, and he'll grow to love you like we do. Don't be upset." He hugged her again and then sat her down on the settee. He waved and Donna hesitated and followed him out again, leaving Martha to lie down and fall asleep.

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Martha lifted her head gingerly from the sofa and rubbed her eyes. She looked over at the mirror on the wall and grimaced. She had black sticky marks under her eyes and her hair was a mess. She yawned and padded over to the kitchen to put the kettle on. She grabbed a towel from the radiator and went to have a bath. She was reflecting on the previous night even though she had tried so hard to push it from her mind. It was bound to go badly and she decided to attempt to forget about it and move on. There was always the Doctor, she thought. The idea was laughable and she used that to push all thoughts of Mickey from her mind and went to make some coffee for breakfast. There was a knock at the door and she quickly swapped her towel for a dressing gown and went to answer it. She opened the door to reveal Rose standing there looking very worried.

"Can I come in please?" She asked, Martha nodded and stepped aside. Rose swiftly walked over to the settee and sat down, playing with her fingers and biting her nails. Martha poured Rose a cup of coffee as well and went to sit beside her.

"What's wrong?" asked Martha.

"I need your help on something," she said, "I'm so confused right now and you were the first person I thought who might be able to give me a good opinion." Martha sipped her coffee.

"I'm listening." Rose gulped

"Right, I don't think I'm in love with Jack anymore, but I can't break up with him because he's...well, he gets a bit physical when I do anything against his will." Martha suddenly looked concerned. "And when I was working with Torchwood on Parallel Earth, I was working with Mickey a lot of the time and I don't know, but I think I fell for him again and I suppose that there must still be something there from the past, if you know what I mean." There was a lump in Martha's throat and she tried to swallow it down without Rose noticing, Rose carried on however. "And then the Doctor came back, and you can imagine how I must have felt, I loved him and now he's back, and to be honest, I'm pretty sure that everything I felt for him never disappeared and I am in fact still in love with the Doctor. Martha, I need you. I have no idea what to do. I can't stay with Jack if I don't love him and we're supposed to be getting married next week. Help." The last word was spoken with such begging in Rose's eyes that Martha couldn't help but feel guilty about her new feelings for Mickey.

"You can't not break up with Jack, Rose. I'm sorry that he gets like that but it's the only way." She put a reassuring hand on Rose's shoulder, who nodded. "Tell you what, the Doctor, Donna and I can wait outside when you do it to make sure that he doesn't go too far. And as for the other two. It seems more logical that you go for the man who you're sure of your feelings for, i.e. the Doctor." Rose looked at her, quite surprised by her advise.

"Seriously? But it's the Doctor, I mean, he's a Timelord, so he can't have a relationship anyway, isn't it best if I'm with a human?" Martha didn't want to hurt Rose and didn't want to force her to be with someone. But she honestly thought that the Doctor loved Rose enough to be with her.

"I dunno Rose. I'll talk to the Doctor and ask him if he would –." But Rose cut her off.

"Martha, don't tell him please!" Martha looked taken aback. "Please Martha, don't tell him." Martha nodded and Rose got up. "Thanks, I best be off now, but you've been a great help, I'll ask you for advise more often." She hugged Martha and left. Martha was left confused at what had just happened and why not letting the Doctor know would help this situation. Though she was determined now to get the Doctor to tell her that he was still in love with Rose and then she would be able to fix things up with them both.

She found the familiar blue box near the corrugated iron wall opposite the Powell Estate. She took out her key that she hadn't used in ages and pushed open the door to find the Doctor reading on the captain's seat. He looked up when she closed the doors and immediately put his book down.

"How are you?" he said. She shrugged.

"The dinner last night? Yeah, it wasn't great but I'm fine honestly, I think I was just a bit hormonal last night, but I'm not fussed about it at all now. Nothing there. But I do need to ask you something." She walked over to him and sat next to him on the seat. "Do you still, I mean, are you, you know, still...in love with Rose?" The Doctor looked taken aback by this sudden interrogative and he swallowed.

"Erm... I don't--." But he looked into Martha's eyes and knew that she was wanting an honest answer and he knew that she wouldn't judge him for whatever he said. He nodded. "Why?"

"No reason. I don't think." She got up and started wandering round the console. What on earth was she going to do with them both now. "Would you ever have a relationship with a human?" she asked him. He frowned.

"Have you been talking to anyone?" She looked sheepish.

"I'll tell you when you answer my question," she laughed.

"Timelords with humans is a bad idea but I'm not one of those traditional Timelords that abide by the laws of Gallifrey, seeing as that planet is gone anyway."

"So you would?" Martha continued.

"Maybe," said the Doctor. He was teasing her now and she had to tell him eventually otherwise they'd get nowhere.

"Well, okay then fine. I was talking to Rose." His eyes widened.

"Rose? You mean she wanted you to find out from me?" But Martha shook her head.

"Not exactly, she told me not to tell you anything, but I had to find out whether you felt the same way and now I know you do and I can tell her, and you can both be happy." The Doctor suddenly stopped her.

"No, no, no, no, no!" he stuttered, "you can't just go telling her, what if she gets ideas in her head? You just can't." Martha rolled her eyes.

"Seriously, you're both as bad as each other." And with that she jogged out of the TARDIS and snapped the doors shut.

Now she had to find Rose and try and get across to her that the Doctor felt the same without making it obvious that she'd been talking to him and that she told him what Rose had told her not to tell him. She breathed deeply trying to calm herself down as she reached the door of Rose's flat on the Powell Estate. She knocked and Mickey answered the door. He looked worried and looked at his feet. Martha decided to save him any embarrassment.

"Is Rose here?" she asked. Mickey quickly stood back to let her in and then vacated upstairs. Rose was on the settee with a steaming mug in her hand. She looked up and smiled at Martha, gesturing for her to sit down.

"I've been thinking, and my opinion is that you should tell the Doctor how you feel." Martha waited for Rose's reaction.

"What makes you think that'll make things any better?" asked Rose. Martha was thinking fast.

"I have a feeling he feels the same way about you. You didn't see his face when Jack kissed you when we were in Torchwood. Honestly, he wouldn't have looked like that if he wasn't crazy about you." Rose pondered the thought for a while.

"Well, what if I tell him and he doesn't tell me the same thing back. How stupid will I feel then?" Martha got up, clearly ready to leave again.

"You'll at least know the truth and you can get over him and find someone else." And she walked out of the door leaving Rose to think about what had just been said.

A life with the Doctor, that was all she'd ever wanted since day one really. Though she would still have the complications of being engaged to Jack and having the feelings she did for Mickey. But was she really going to miss at the chance to have the Doctor tell her he loved her and to have him hug her again like he did in Torchwood, when to him there was no Jack. She hadn't felt as good a feeling as that before and she was eager to feel it again. Grabbing her jacket from the coffee table she threw open the door and hurled herself down the stairs and outside towards the TARDIS.

The Doctor had gone back to his book when she opened the doors. He looked up and immediately put it down again and got up. Rose tried to arrange her thoughts and make sure she didn't blurt anything that sounded too stupid out. There was a silence that lasted about five minutes before Rose managed to let anything come out of her mouth.

"Right, I really need to tell you something."

The Doctor didn't say anything, he knew what was coming and the only thing he could do was wait.

"I—I—," Rose stuttered, she looked into his eyes and knew then she couldn't do it. "It's Mickey—I mean—I've fallen—well—my feelings for Mickey are back and I don't know what to do." The Doctor still said nothing, clearly he'd jumped to the wrong conclusion. So why did Martha tell him that Rose was still in love with him, when it was Mickey. He looked at her, hoping to get some sort of answer.

Rose looked at him again, she could see deep into his eyes and thought about what Martha had said. What she'd said may well have been true and she'd just ruined that by telling him about Mickey. She looked down and said in a mutter that was barely audible.

"And you. I love you." However quiet it was the Doctor didn't need it to be any louder for him to hear. He stepped towards her and took her hand. She knew what was coming, the apology that he didn't feel the same way and the terrible heartache that she would receive. But that never came. Instead he peered down and looked at her face. For a while they just looked at each other, then the Doctor touched her cheek, he leant down and just as he had done almost three years ago he gently kissed her.

Then he remembered. She was engaged to Jack, and apparently in love with Mickey. What did that make him? He unlocked himself from her.

"What?" asked Rose.

"What you said about Mickey. Is that true?" Rose's eyes filled up when she realised that she'd just ruined this whole moment by not being brave enough to tell him straight away. She nodded and the Doctor stepped back. "Then I won't stop you." She looked at him frowning.

"What do you mean?"

"I've told you before, I can't stay with you for the rest of my life. You need someone who can, and I'd rather it be Mickey than Jack." She stared at him, not believing what she was hearing. But he wasn't joking, he was being completely serious and she couldn't argue with him. She turned to go, realising as she went that he never said anything back. Again. Gasping for breath and tears streaming down her face she headed back home to do what the Doctor told her to do.

Martha just came out of the newsagents with a magazine and some chocolate when she saw Rose running across the street towards her house. Deciding not to run after her and to find out what had happened from somebody would probably wouldn't be a tearful wreck she jogged up to the TARDIS and pushed open the doors, only to find the Doctor on his seat with a gun to his head.

* * *

**Ssshh, I know this would never happen, but then where's the fun? :D**

Sorry about ending on a pretty big cliffhanger as well, I'll try and update asap.

**Please, please, please review! It's my 17th birthday in 2 days, and it would be an ace present to find a good number of reviews :D:D:D  
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	5. Steps Forward

**Apologies for the late update, I've been away :P**

**This chapter contains T rated moments, but there's no explicit detail at all. :D And I've also added in some of Rose's past, which I've (well, friends and I) made up. It's quite traumatic, but it works :D**

**Enjoy (:**

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"Woah, woah, woah!" yelled Martha, running over to the Doctor and knocking the gun out of his hand so it flew across the TARDIS floor. "What the hell do you think you're playing at Doctor?" The Doctor was unperturbed by her outburst and continued to stare at the floor until she clicked her fingers in front of his face and he looked up. Martha was staring at him a look of shock, terror and anger all etched on her face.

"It's Rose."

Martha rolled her eyes, of course. "She came in and told me that she loved Mickey, and me. I was happy, when she told me she loved me and so I kissed her, but then I remembered she loved Mickey and told her to go for Mickey." Martha froze.

"You did what?" She could feel the lump in her throat as she pictured Rose running to the Powell Estate and into Mickey's open arms. The Doctor looked up and into Martha's eyes.

"But, you said you were fine, nothing there, etc." Martha laughed.

"I lied. Of course I lied, I'm not the one to be practically asking for sympathy and I didn't know that this would happen, I thought I could dwell on the fact that something could happen and slowly get over everything." The Doctor felt terrible. Now, mixed with the feeling of annoyance that he had just turned down Rose Tyler he was now swamped with guilt that he had sent her off to someone that one of his best friends was now over enamoured with.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, staring at his feet. Martha rolled her eyes. He wasn't one for knowing about these things and he was far to adorable in his ignorance to not forgive. She hugged him, though he was still sitting down, she held his head to her stomach and wrapped her arms around his neck. He hugged her waist and they didn't let go for a good minute or two, feeling like two lost souls that had to stick together for all it was worth.

* * *

Rose didn't stop running until she reached the door to her house and she struggled to breathe as she hammered on the front door, hoping that Mickey would hear her and let her in. A bit later the door opened and Mickey stood there. He saw Rose's face and immediately pulled her inside and into the living room. He sat down beside her on the sofa and held her to his chest until she finally calmed down.

"What's wrong?" he whispered to her and she lifted up her head and brushed the hair from her face. She didn't want to tell him about the Doctor, because he wouldn't take her if he knew, he'd convince her to go back to him, which she couldn't do.

"I'm so confused Mickey, I don't want to be engaged to Jack." Mickey already had an inkling that she was dissatisfied with her relationship with Jack anyway and so wasn't shocked by this news.

"Well, why are you confused then, go and break up with him, that's all you need to do." Rose swallowed.

"It's not just that," she said.

"Well, what more do you want?" Mickey replied, Rose stared into his eyes almost seductively and Mickey realised. "Oh..."

"Mickey, that's why I'm so confused, I'm with Jack, but yet all those months with you in Torchwood seem to reignite lost feelings for you." Mickey's mouth twitched at the sides and he ran his hand through Rose's hair who took it in her own. "Just like old times?" she asked, smiling, forgetting about the Doctor.

"Just like old times," Mickey repeated and kissed her, pushing her back down onto the sofa.

* * *

Rose tried to compose herself at the door to Jack's house. The Doctor and Martha were outside with her, they'd forced her to get this far and were now trying to encourage her to go inside.

"Rose, it'll be fine honestly," Martha said soothingly. "Think about how much better you'll feel afterwards."

"We'll be listening, and we'll come running if something goes wrong," said the Doctor, who now knew of Jack's violent nature. Rose nodded, took a deep breath and opened the door.

"I'm glad you decided to help," said Martha to the Doctor. He nodded. Martha continued. "Because we need to be strong," she said almost mockingly, holding up a fist, with a determined expression on her face. The Doctor laughed.

"It's true, we need to move on and let the other two alone, it's their decision after all, and we want them to be happy." Martha sighed and leaned against the wall. They stayed quiet for a while, listening for a sign to go inside.

All of a sudden, they heard a gasp and a muffle from inside, the Doctor wasn't taking any chances and hurled himself through the door, into the living room to find Jack holding Rose's arms behind her head and his hand over her mouth to stifle the screaming. The Doctor threw himself at Jack and thrust him off Rose, who collapsed on the chair. Martha ran over to her as the Doctor swung his fist at Jack and punched him hard in the face.

"Leave. Her. Alone," he said menacingly, spitting at Jack with each word and left without saying anything else. Martha took Rose's hand and they followed the Doctor out of the house and shut the door. The Doctor was already at the TARDIS and he shut the doors behind him, clearly wanting to be alone. Martha stared after him, gobsmacked at what he'd just done; who knew the Doctor could be that aggressive? He must really love her. If only he'd just admit it to her. _Stupid Timelord_, she thought.

Martha patted Rose on the back and they both set off in opposite directions back home.

* * *

As far as Martha could tell, the relationship between Rose and Mickey was going well, and however much it disheartened her and the Doctor, they both attempted to keep their heads up and not say anything against it, not wanting to be the cause of the couple splitting up. Once or twice, Rose had joked about the idea of Martha and the Doctor becoming a pair. The idea was so ludicrous that they managed to simply laugh it off when the joke was brought up and were free to discuss the reason behind the madness without feeling uncomfortable.

It had been two months since Mickey and Rose had got together and Rose had been very cautious about how things went between the two of them. She hadn't wanted anything to move forward too quickly in case it ruined things, and plus, she was secretly still daydreaming about the Doctor even though she knew full well that he wouldn't go down that road with her.

She was sprawled out across her bed reading about Forensic Science. It was about nine o'clock at night and Mickey had gone to his house to pick some stuff up. She'd got a phone call from her cousin in Las Vegas who was convincing her to join their team of Crime Scene Investigators over there. Of course, with only a few GCSE's and no A Levels, this wasn't the sort of thing that could come naturally, and she'd had to make do with 'Forensics For Dummies' to help her for the moment. It was definitely something that interested her even though it was a lot of hard work. Her door creaked open and she looked up to see Mickey sneak in and dump a bag in the corner of the room. She immediately closed the book and shoved it under her pillow; she knew how much teasing she'd get if he saw it. He crawled onto her bed, on top of her and kissed her. Rose couldn't stop the wave of passion that crept through her veins in that moment. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back, rolling over so she was on top of him. She felt her top crawling up her back, pulled by Mickey's hands, and, though she knew what was coming next, she didn't stop him.

* * *

Rose was dreaming. Subconsciously she knew that, but it felt so real. She'd been free of these nightmares for so long, but it came back. He returned to haunt her nights once more. She was in his house, the too familiar room was dark and she could see him coming towards her, grabbing her wrist and pulling her towards him to kiss her. He never stopped there though. He pulled her hair as she tried to struggle away from him and kicked her when she wouldn't move. She was forced down onto the floor and he began to rip at her clothes, without caring not to hurt her. She couldn't scream and she was too weak to fight back, she just lay there, helpless on the floor as he took her over. She looked up and saw his fist coming towards her. She screamed.

She jerked up in her bed and covered herself with the duvet, sweating and crying. Looking to her left she saw the faint outline of Mickey fast asleep. She curled towards him and tried to fall asleep again but he just rolled over and carried on snoring. Rose was now too scared to sleep in case it happened again. She felt too conscious now and immediately crawled out of bed to put some pyjamas on.

She looked out of the window with a cup of tea in one hand and a hot water bottle in the other. The TARDIS was just outside. Knowing that she wouldn't be able to go back to bed and wanting some form of comfort, she pulled a coat over her pyjamas and ran downstairs and outside.

The Doctor was lying on the bed towards the side of the console, hidden by a curtain, in case he ever wanted to try and sleep or just relax. Of course, there was no way that he was able to sleep; he hadn't even bothered to try. He was distracted by the doors opening and Rose's voice calling him.

"Doctor? Are you there?"

He hurled himself off the bed and poked his head through the curtain. When she saw him she ran over, through the curtain and hugged him tightly, forgetting everything that had happened two months ago. It was the first time she'd hugged him since they met again at Torchwood. He squeezed her gently and kissed the top of her head.

"What's wrong?" was all he could say. He sat her down on the bed and waited.

"I had a nightmare," she said feebly. The Doctor frowned. That was all that had brought her here?

"Oh, I take it that it was bad, if you had to come and find me at 4 o'clock in the morning." Rose laughed slightly. The Doctor patted her back. "Tell me all about it then."

Rose rubbed her eyes and ran her hand through her hair.

"It's a really long story; I'll have to explain everything."

"I've got all the time in the world," said the Doctor, and he winked at her. She exhaled deeply; the Doctor wondered whether him winking caused her to do that, but quickly dismissed the thought, not wanting his ego to grow in Rose's presence.

"Right," she began, "when I was fourteen, I met this guy right, Jimmy Stone." She shuddered after she said the name. "I thought everything was fine at first, we had a good laugh. But obviously, like everything does, things went too far, and we...well, yeah. I got pregnant, but mum made me get rid of it. Before it was born." A tear trickled down her face and the Doctor wiped her cheek with his finger. "Thanks. So anyway, I didn't want to go down that road again, so I said I didn't want to sleep with him again. He didn't take it very well and got violent. Like when you saw Captain Jack that time, Jimmy was ten times worse. Mickey managed to rescue me a couple of times but obviously he couldn't watch over me and keep me safe 24/7." The Doctor found himself thinking that he would volunteer for that job any day. "Mickey called the police, and after a while, they caught him and finally locked him up. I used to have these dreams a lot, but then I—well, they just stopped after a while. But last night after I'd—well they came back. It was horrible."

"What brought it on again?" asked the Doctor.

Rose didn't want to tell him that what she'd just done, but that could well have been the reason.

"Umm, I don't think you want to know. Basically me and Mickey—"

"Right, yes, please say no more," said the Doctor quickly. They both laughed and caught each other's eyes for the first time that night. The Doctor's hand seemed to act of its own accord and he reached up to caress the side of Rose's face with his forefinger. She looked at it and then took his hand in her own. His hand moved to her hair and he ran his fingers through it. Rose closed her eyes. The Doctor lay her head down on the pillow and lay down next to her. She slid up until she was right next to him and her head was under his chin. He kissed her hair again and held her close to him. _This is different..._the Doctor thought, this wasn't like him at all, but he didn't get up and leave like he should have done really. He stayed next to her, stroking her hair gently. He felt like a completely different person at that point in time, almost human. Yet he still wasn't expecting Rose to go further.

She withdrew her head from his chest and pulled his face to hers, kissing him. So full of surprise and pleasure, the Doctor reciprocated and kissed her fiercely back. Rose knew that having just gone that far with Mickey was the cause of her nightmare, but this felt so different. She felt completely safe in the Doctor's arms and quickly forgot all about Mickey and Jimmy. The Doctor could feel his tie loosening. He broke from Rose's kiss and looked down. Her hands were working furiously to get it off. He laughed quickly and Rose laughed too. Their foreheads touching, their lips were merely an inch apart.

This was definitely not proper Timelord behaviour, but that thought never crossed his mind. He had one thought now. Just Rose. They were both breathing deeply and she finally managed to loosen the tie enough to pull it over his head. He shrugged out of his jacket and Rose did the same with her coat.

The Doctor started to get slightly worried. Clearly Rose knew what she was doing and was able to do this without thinking. But the Doctor had no idea what to do and was praying that it would come naturally or that Rose wouldn't think him stupid, or that Mickey was better. He couldn't even believe that he'd ever think these thoughts. He had a jolt of courage. Rose was now engaged in un-buttoning his shirt so he decided to try something, unknowing of whether or not it would work. His lips strayed from her mouth and began tracing her jaw line down to her neck. He stayed there for a while, waiting for a response. He couldn't hear anything from her, he stopped and looked up at her.

She was very still and just stared at the ceiling for a while, and then one word escaped her mouth that made the Doctor grin.

"Wow." She started breathing again and the Doctor thought it safe to carry on.

Rose was now more eager to remove the Doctor's shirt. Having never experienced this side of the Timelord before, she was intrigued to know of his expertise in this area. Her breathing stopped when his shirt was open and revealed his chest. Her low expectations of the Doctor, and his first appearance of a scrawny creature, were completely challenged now as she looked at him. If only Donna could see this. But then she dismissed that thought, exceptionally glad that Donna was not here.

* * *

The Doctor refused to open his eyes. He would not believe that the previous night had been real. It must have been a dream, far too wonderful to be reality. But then how could it have been a dream? He didn't sleep. So what was he doing now? Lying on a bed, eyes closed, exhausted. He carefully opened his eyes and blinked a few times. His eyelids felt heavy and he had to remove the sleep from the corner of his eye. Clearly, he'd been able to sleep, which meant that the night before must have definitely been a dream. But then he turned his head and saw her. She was just lying there; fast asleep, under the covers. The Doctor was aware suddenly that this had happened, proved by the fact that he too was under the covers and completely bare. All of a sudden he felt a bit insecure and wanted to slip out of bed and cover himself up with some means of clothing before Rose woke up. He quickly slipped out from the bed and ducked down to get dressed. He'd just slipped into his pinstriped trousers after finding them in a corner somewhere that must have taken some effort to throw when he heard a faint moaning coming from behind him. He spun round to find Rose hoisting herself up onto her hand, while attempting to keep her chest covered up. The Doctor covered his eyes with his hands and turned round again.

"I'm not looking, get changed quickly," he said, wondering why they both felt so uncomfortable with this. But then the obvious answer came down on him like a ton of bricks. Mickey.

He felt Rose's finger prod his back and he turned around to find her holding out his shirt and tie. He hastened to button it up because he was aware that Rose seemed to be resisting the urge to stare at him.

He shuffled into his jacket and joined Rose sitting on the side of the bed. They both stared at the floor in silence, reflecting. Someone had to see reason here, and it looked like that someone was going to be the Doctor.

"You should go and find Mickey," he said quickly. Rose turned to look at him. He stopped her before she could argue back. "Last night was great, but we must forget about it. I can't be for you the person that Mickey can; he can offer more to you, like a family. I want more than anything for you to be happy, I want to see you settle down and be able to grow old with someone who can grow old with you."

Rose stood up quickly. The Doctor grabbed her wrist and she turned to face him.

"Please Rose, you deserve better." She stared at him, not convinced that Mickey could ever be better than the Doctor. She pulled her hand away from him and walked out of the doors without looking back.

* * *

The Doctor was absent-mindedly fiddling with the Rubix cube he held between his palms. He was paying no attention to what he was doing; the colours were just a blur as he struggled to resist the temptation of thinking about his night with Rose too much. He looked down at his hands.

All six sides were a perfect block colour. Completely messed up and all over the place before, now everything fitted into place. The Doctor tossed the cube over onto the pile of other failed distractions, all of which had been either too easy or too boring to take his mind off Rose: a crossword book, now all completed, a 2000 piece jigsaw with 3 pieces missing, a colouring book and, now the Rubix cube. None of these things had made him feel any better, only more frustrated if he couldn't get a clue or he coloured outside the lines. Nothing seemed to be able to wipe his memory of that night last month.

He was just going to resort to reading the dictionary again when the door of the TARDIS swung open revealing Martha, looking rather irritated. The Doctor sighed in relief and heaved himself up to greet her.

"You can't have had a worse day than me," he said, raising his eyebrows.

Martha huffed and flung herself onto the seat, and the Doctor joined her soon after, awaiting her response.

"I went shopping," she said bluntly, "with Rose. And Donna."

"Nice," grinned the Doctor.

"I suppose it could have been worse. She only said how good a couple we'd make twice. Still annoys me though."

The Doctor nodded. Making up his mind not to tell her yet about him and Rose. He'd managed for four weeks, he didn't want to make her life more complicated than it was by throwing his burdens on her.

"How did Donna take that then?" Martha laughed.

"Hmm, yeah, I suppose that was funny. She sort of stared at Rose for about five minutes, clearly shocked as we first were when they first mentioned it. Then, she did her famous '_No. Way._'"

They sat in silence for what seemed like ages, lost in thought about everything that had been bothering them for the past few months, even though it felt like much longer.

Martha's phone buzzed from her pocket, she opened it and read the message aloud.

"_Find_ _the Dr and bring him with you to my place. Huge news! Rose XxX._"

"That's weird," said the Doctor getting up. "Come on then, let's be off."

* * *

Completely oblivious as to what had caused Rose to summon them both to her flat, the Doctor and Martha walked up the stairs in silence, wondering to themselves what this huge news could be. When the door opened, Mickey was there as well. Rose sat them both down on the sofa and stood next to Mickey in front of them. Mickey cleared his throat and tried to sound formal.

"The reason we've brought you here is to tell you of our news, Rose and I—" The Doctor and Martha held their breath, now having guessed why there were here, "—are getting married." Of course.

Having been expecting that answer, it was easier to cover up the sinking disappointment and they were able to prepare themselves to act surprised and happy for them.

"Wow, that's—," Martha began.

"Brilliant," finished the Doctor. Martha nodded. Mickey grinned at the pair of them.

"Now you're finishing each other's sentences, you're clearly made for each other." They both slumped backwards onto the settee at the same time and Rose made a sound that any normal person would only make if they saw a really adorable kitten and turned to Martha.

"Now I know you say you don't like this, but come on Martha, don't say you wouldn't." Mickey set himself down on the coffee table and Martha leaned forward.

"I wouldn't. There you go, said it." She leaned back again.

"You say that now, but that's because you've never experienced any of the Doctor's little tricks."

"And you have?" Martha said with raised eyebrows.

Rose's eyes flickered towards the Doctor for a split second. "A long time ago, it's nothing, but seriously. Come on Doctor show her some stuff."

The Doctor quickly held his hands up. "No, no, no, just no."

"Please, Doctor." Rose looked at him with puppy dog eyes. "Wink at her first, go on."

The Doctor sighed in exasperation, turned to Martha and winked at her. Martha looked from Rose to the Doctor, then back again.

"Was that supposed to do something?" she asked mockingly, so fed up of this.

"Fine then," said Rose, "kiss her neck Doctor, that'll do it."

The Doctor stared at her incredulously. "Why?"

"Because I think she should see what it's like."

The Doctor and Martha sat there in silence while Mickey and Rose watched them expectantly. Martha rolled her eyes.

"Just do it Doctor, it'll get them off our backs." She held her hair back for him. Mickey and Rose smiled, satisfied, at each other. The Doctor grimaced.

"Fine," he said and quickly pressed his lips against Martha's neck underneath her ear.

Martha had to agree that this was a pretty good feeling, nothing to swoon over though really. She glanced at Mickey's face. It was hard to decipher what his expression was, but it wasn't the same as Rose's who was grinning. She decided to soak up this moment, and surprise them. She turned around, took the Doctor's face in her hands and pulled him into a kiss. To start with, the Doctor tried to struggle away from her, but she kept her grip on his head tight until he realised what she was doing and started to kiss back.

It was a while before they heard Mickey take Rose out of the flat but by this time, Martha at least had stopped pretending. It seemed the Doctor had too as neither of them stopped. Now they were alone, Martha's hands found the Doctor's tie and began to work at getting it off, followed by his jacket, which she threw somewhere. She was busy undoing the buttons on his shirt when she felt the Doctor's hands move up her waist, bringing her top with them. She suddenly realised what she was doing. It seemed the Doctor did at the same time as they both sprung apart immediately and stared at each other, horrified.

Martha hurried to pull her top down while the Doctor quickly fastened his shirt. He reached for his tie which was hanging over the TV when Martha sighed.

"I suppose it never would have worked, even if we actually wanted it," sighed the Doctor.

"Well, I thought I did then, but as soon as I realised you were about to take my top off I thought 'woah, what's going on?!'"

The Doctor laughed and nodded. "Same." He came back to sit next to her.

"So," she said, "Rose and Mickey." The Doctor winced.

"Yep, we're going to be the life and soul of that wedding."

Martha groaned. "Well at least we can sit in the corner eating leftovers and moan about how loud the music is."

The Doctor laughed again and held his hand out. She shook it.

"Shall we go then?" she asked finally.

"Hold on I need my jacket first." He looked around the room "Where is it?"

Martha shrugged and began searching with him, it must have been about five minutes before Martha suddenly shouted "Got it!"

The Doctor took it from her, frowning. "Why was it under the sofa?" Martha tried to remember what had happened. She bit her lip sheepishly.

"I think that might have been my foot. I must have got a bit...enthusiastic."

The Doctor snorted and there was a knock at the door.

"Come in," yelled Martha, elbowing the Doctor, he shut up immediately. Rose and Mickey peeked round the door and came in.

"That was quick," said Rose.

Martha glanced at the Doctor who was having to admire the palm of his hand to stifle his laughter.

"That's because nothing happened, I only kissed him to shut you two up, then we stopped." She thought she noticed a flicker of what could have been relief across Mickey's face, but she couldn't be too sure. Rose shrugged and the Doctor hurriedly followed Martha out of the door. Once it was closed they burst out laughing and carried on all the way down the stairs. Although they knew that later on when they were on their own they'd both sink into a severe depression, they couldn't help but laugh about the fact that they had almost—. The idea was too ridiculous that they couldn't even finish the sentence without laughing again.

They got outside and waved goodbye. As soon as Martha turned her back on the Doctor the truth managed to sink in. She tried to catch her breath as she walked off to her car, knowing that she would be in for a very restless and teary night's sleep.

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**Please please please review!**

**[Arghhh, Results Day in 6 days!! :O:O:O]  
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	6. The Wedding

**Hey there! Here's the latest chapter :D. This is where the CSI Crossovers start, but only introducing characters from Vegas, and Mac from NY, but seriously, _you don't need to watch it to read this, there's nothing to understand about CSI in this chapter!!!_ And also, I've introduced one other character, who is a creation of my own.**

**His name is _Matt Taylor._ And he is _MINE!! _Muhahaha! :P  
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**Enjoy! :D**

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_Chapter 5: The Wedding_

"Be honest, how do I look?" Martha spun round while the Doctor looked up gloomily from his feet.

"You look beautiful," he said but then stared at the floor again. Martha rolled her eyes.

"Lighten up for now Doctor, we have to be on our best behaviour for the service. Wait 'til the reception, and then we can be grumpy together." The Doctor nodded and stood up. Martha straightened his tie and sorted out his hair. The Doctor tried to bat her hands away childishly.

"Martha, stop it," he said in a mock child voice. She tapped his cheek when she finished and they both went separate ways to find the bride and groom. Martha was about to knock on Rose's door when she heard her name whispered from the bathroom.

"Pssst, Martha." She spun round to find Donna peeking through a small crack in the doorway. "Come in here, I need your help." Martha gently pushed the door open to find Donna tangled in her bridesmaid dress, which was inside out, back to front and upside down. She looked stuck. Once she'd managed to free Donna from her dress they both crept into Rose's room. She was facing the door so they saw her as soon as they walked in. Her dress was plain white, simple but stunning. The back trailed along behind her and her hair was done up in tight blonde curls, partially hidden by a veil. Donna started crying and Martha smiled at Rose.

"You look amazing," she said simply.

Rose's cousin, Sara was straightening out the skirt, dressed in the same pale blue as Martha and Donna, her shoulder-length hair was curled like Rose's and Donna's, whereas Martha decided to stick with hers straight.

"You're all done," said Sara, her American accent more obvious in a room of Londoners. "Let's go."

* * *

The Doctor seemed to be more nervous than Mickey was as they stood at the front of the church, waiting for the organ to start playing. His knees were shaking and he clenched his fists tightly.

The procession started and everyone got to their feet and faced the back. He took this time to take in all the other faces in the congregation. A proud looking Jackie Tyler stood tall; clearly Mickey was a good suitor for her daughter. A group of three men and one woman sat together, the Doctor guessed they were the team from Vegas, minus the two who he knew were at the back with Rose. This brought his attention to the beauty drifting down the aisle. Rose was beaming around at everyone and the Doctor looked away from her before she could look him in the eye. On her arm was Gil Grissom, the leader of CSI Las Vegas, standing in as Rose's father. Sara, Martha and Donna followed behind; he noticed Martha's eyes were focused on the floor, whereas Donna was eyeing two men sat together behind Rose's extended family. Both looked very similar except one was bald.

The Doctor's attention had to shift back to the front now as Rose and Mickey joined hands. He tried not to concentrate as the service started; he only heard snippets of what was being said, though he heard very clearly the minister saying "Speak now, or forever hold your peace." The Doctor's eyes wandered over to Martha but met Rose's on the way; she was staring at him, with a look that could only suggest that she was trying to say one thing. _Please_. However, as soon as he blinked, the pleading look was gone and she was staring intently at Mickey again, but still, a slight sense of, what had to have been frustration embedded on her face.

* * *

"Please welcome the new husband and wife, Rose and Mickey Smith."

The few people in the hall applauded and some cheered. Martha and the Doctor clapped politely and sat back down again as soon as they could. They put they're heads closer together so as not to be heard by anyone else, and carried on the conversation they'd been having previously. The Doctor had just told her about that night with Rose.

"I don't understand though," Martha said. "How, if it was so good, did you both just forget about it and why is this day even happening?"

"Believe me Martha; I don't understand that anymore than you do. But there is something else that I should really tell you. The thing is, is that it wasn't just that time. She's been having these nightmares practically every night, and although she doesn't come to find me every night, there have been quite a number during hers and Mickey's engagement. I've just tried to comfort her, but then things go down the same road each time."

Martha's eyes narrowed. "You're seriously telling me that every single time you were just planning to comfort her, you must have realised soon enough that her coming to find you would give you a clue as to how you were going to spend your night."

They waited while a bowl of strongly smelling soup was placed in front of them and they both wrinkled their noses at the scent. The Doctor started stirring it with his spoon whilst Martha glared at him.

"I suppose so. It did happen a lot." Martha nodded, not wanting to judge him.

"So why is she married now then?" The Doctor looked at her, analysing whether to give her the full story or not. It became clear he decided for it, keeping his voice even lower than before.

"Mickey can give Rose a family. That's what I kept telling her. You see." He coughed, shifting his chair closer to Martha's. "I can't give Rose children, I'm infertile." Martha gasped silently and grabbed his hand for a moment, he smiled. "All this time, every time Rose and I…slept together, we didn't… use any form of protection." Martha felt a surge of pity for him. Evidently, this wasn't a subject he was particularly comfortable with sharing. He continued all the same. "Rose is trying to convince me that it isn't true, by trying to get pregnant. It's a stupid idea when you think about it, because she was engaged to Mickey, but she was willing to give that up to prove me wrong. She said the only reason she was with Mickey was because I'd told her that he could offer more and I supposedly wanted her to have his children." He shoved a spoonful of soup in his mouth and winced at the taste. "Don't eat that, it's disgusting."

They stayed silent until they'd finished both the main course and the dessert. It was time for the speeches, the long part of the wedding that would surely drag on. However, Mickey's was quite short and due to the absence of one Pete Tyler, there was no father-of-the-bride speech. The Doctor was the last to stand up, dreading this part of the wedding almost as much as the service.

"For those of you who know me well enough, you would probably have guessed that I had nothing prepared, I like to make things up as I go along. But I'm very, very good at that. And not much goes wrong." There was a small buzz of laughter from Martha, Rose, Mickey and Donna who all knew this better than anyone.

* * *

Martha raised her champagne glass with everyone else and toasted to 'the happy couple'. The Doctor sat back down and wiped his forehead with his napkin.

"It was a good speech, don't worry," Martha assured him while everyone around them stood up to make their way to the dance floor. Rose dragged Sara to the toilets before her first dance with Mickey and Martha and the Doctor stayed where they were, in no hurry to get up and dance, though instinct told them that someone in the room would haul them up there eventually.

"You know what Doctor?" said Martha suddenly, he looked at her. "I think you're wrong as well. I don't think you are infertile."

"Martha, I am, there's no point in trying to deny it."

"Well how do you know exactly? Do they have hospitals in Gallifrey?" she asked.

"I was told. By…someone." Martha stared at him.

"You were told? You were _told_?" she asked incredulously.

"Yes I was told, now, please can we leave the subject, I don't like to think about it." Martha closed her mouth again, trying not to argue back.

"Okay then, tell me who all these people are," Martha said, trying to make conversation. The Doctor pointed people out it turn.

"Right, you've got all the Vegas CSI's, they all stick together it seems. The one who gave Rose away, that was Grissom, that's his last name, but we call him that anyway, he's the sort of leader there. Head CSI if you like, he's over at the bar now. The one he's talking to is Nick Stokes, the one you were eyeing up before." That earned him an elbow in the ribs. "Thanks for that. The blonde-ish one is Cath Willows; she also runs the night shifts with Grissom. She's with Greg Sanders, the smallish one with brown hair, and Warrick Brown, the one with the afro. He gets on my nerves a bit, flirts with Rose all the time. Not that that's the reason why I don't like him or anything." He shifted around in his chair.

"How do you know them all then?"

"I've been there a few times with Rose, she wanted me to meet her cousin, and I met all of them. Right, you see that man over by the fire exit. That's Mac Taylor, he's the top dog at CSI New York, he's brilliant he is, got a good team going on in NY, he's had to help out at Vegas a couple of times, that's how Rose knows him, and his brother too. His brother lives in England though, Matt moved here with their dad. That's him there, Matt Taylor. Mac and Matt. Oh dear, Donna's approaching him."

"Please clear the floor for the bride and groom," came the voice of the DJ from behind his booth. Everyone either sat back in their seats, stood to watch, or in Donna's case, stole someone else's seat to sit next to Matt.

Neither of them wanted to watch Rose and Mickey dance together, but their eyes couldn't seem to tear away. They waited until other couples started to take to the floor, including Donna and Matt.

"Well, we won't see her again tonight," said the Doctor now staring at them.

"Nah, she'll come and ask you to dance once she's had a few," said Martha smugly.

"She won't, she'll be concentrated on her new boyfriend all evening."

"You wanna bet?"

"I'd love to really," he said rolling his eyes, "but you know I have no money." Martha laughed.

"You seem so sure that you'll lose, it doesn't have to be money." The Doctor's eyes narrowed.

"Oh, I'm sure I'll win, go on then, choose a forfeit."

Martha pondered for a while and then she had it, it seemed a bit unfair but this was a chance that she was eager to take.

"I've got mine," said the Doctor grinning, it had to be childish. "If Donna hasn't asked me by midnight, I win, and you ask Mac Taylor back to your hotel room." Martha closed her eyes and shook her head, thinking of some way she could sway Donna into inviting the Doctor to the dance floor. "Go on, beat mine then."

"Fine," she said, her eyes sparkling with mischief. "Donna asks you before midnight, I win, and you take me to Gallifrey."

The Doctor's jaw dropped and it took him a while to get his words out.

"Martha, I can't—"

"Don't say you can't because I know you can, _you _don't even have to be seen, but I'm really curious to see it."

He thought about it for a while, considering the idea, at least he wasn't flatly refusing, he nodded slowly and they shook hands, sealing the contract.

"Do you know how tempting it is to ask the bartender to not serve the excitable ginger one?" The Doctor grinned.

"About as tempting as asking him to spike every drink she orders, I would have guessed."

* * *

It was nearing half past eleven and Martha was beginning to think up schemes of asking Mac up to her room, just in case she lost the bet. Everyone who'd been invited seemed very sociable and everyone had had at least one conversation with everyone else in the room. Donna was dancing with Mac now, and it was hard to tell whether she knew that or whether she was mistaking him for his brother. Rose was catching up with her family all at once while Mickey was being fussed over by Jackie. The Doctor was deep in conversation with Grissom by the fire exit and Martha was being approached by Cath, just as Nick and Greg were leaving to get more drink down them.

"Rose told me you were a doctor," she said as she took a seat next to Martha.

"Yeah, I qualified last year, why?"

"I heard Mac's looking for more recruits for his CSI team, you should look into it."

Martha pondered that thought for a while; the idea of working in forensics had been one that she'd thought about years ago. Now the idea was being practically handed to her. She couldn't refuse without giving it some thought.

"Thanks for letting me know, I'll think about it."

"Mac'll be happy; I'll go and let him know." Martha watched as she strode over to the dance floor and prodded Mac's shoulder. She took his elbow and led him over to one side, leaving Donna looking distraught. She looked around and Martha saw her stop at the fire exit, making her way over to the Doctor and Grissom. Praying that Donna remembered that she'd already asked Grissom to dance at least three times, Martha held her breath, waiting. The next thing she knew was Donna grabbing the Doctor's hand and leading him along behind her. Martha cheered silently and watched them smugly for a while, until she felt Rose poke her arm.

"Come on Martha, I can't believe I've not danced with you yet. There's no way I'm leaving tonight without a dance." She grabbed her and led her over to dance. Martha leaned discreetly over to where the Doctor was locked in Donna's hold and winked at him. He shook his head at her and carried on dancing.

* * *

It was gone one o'clock now and Martha was pretty sure she'd danced with pretty much every male in the room. The only one who hadn't asked her yet was Mickey. No surprise really. She and the Doctor were back sitting at their table after just finishing a conversation with Matt, convincing him that Donna can calm down and that he should go and ask her to dance again. From what they could see, the now wasted Donna was more than willing to get back up.

The song changed from a lively dance number to a slow song by Daniel Bedingfield. The Doctor looked up and smiled to himself, not a cheerful smile, more of a thoughtful smile.

"What?" asked Martha.

"This song, have you listened to the words the whole way through?"

"Yeah, I like this song, why?"

"I wrote it. Well, I helped. Well, I did most of it actually."

"You're kidding."

"Nope, think about it, '_he don't love you like I love you, don't think about you like I think about you, he don't wanna have your children, he don't wanna build his life around you_'." He sang the chorus and Martha was quite surprised at the fact that his singing was actually pretty good.

"Very beautiful Doctor, though I must say your English isn't great, think about what Matt would say." She laughed. Matt was an English teacher at a high school.

"Shut up, that's the only way it fits, I didn't write the tune."

"Why did you co-write this song then?"

"Don't hit me, but I thought if I could get it played at the wedding, Rose may think about the lyrics..." He trailed off and Martha rolled her eyes and patted his shoulder.

The Doctor suddenly snorted and elbowed Martha in the side.

"Erm, Martha, you've got two men staring at you at eleven and two o'clock," he sniggered. Martha looked at both directions seeing Warrick Brown in one, and Mickey in the other. As soon as Martha glanced in Mickey's direction, he quickly looked away. She grinned wickedly.

"I think it's time I had some fun then, I'll see you later Doc." She got up from her chair and headed over in the direction where Warrick was standing alone against the wall.

* * *

Mickey glanced back over at the table again to see only the Doctor there, tapping out the rhythm to the song with his fingers and singing along to himself. Suddenly realising what the song was, Mickey remembered the time he played it for Rose when she was still with Captain Jack. She had been so overjoyed with it and had told him that it was a perfect song for them.

Mickey's eyes scanned the hall looking for Martha again. He saw her over on the other side talking to that Warrick from CSI. She was leaning against the wall with a champagne glass in her hand and Warrick had his hand on the wall above her head, effectively trapping her though she seemed to not mind. A wave of anger surged through Mickey and he inhaled deeply. He suddenly had an image in his head of himself being in Warrick's position and he felt the jealously pound in his head. Confusion hit him soon after in the shape of Rose getting his attention. He tore his eyes away from the couple and held Rose's waist to dance with her. Though he was quite content with being with Rose, he couldn't help but wish that someone else was dancing with him right now.

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**Did you enjoy it? Please review! You review - you make my day. Go on. Click review. And make my day :P**

**[I saw 'The Time Traveller's Wife' the other day, and Henry has the exact same eyes as the Doctor! I squeed...:P]**

**ALSO! My very good friend Nikita (RoseTyler-Smith-Doctor's Wife to you) wrote a great one shot of a section in the previous chapter of this story, told from Rose's point of view. It's of her night with the Doctor, and she's reflecting on it. Go and read it and review it, it's amazing, as is the author. You can find it on my favourite stories, it's called 'The Real Welcome To Torchwood'. :P**  
**I love you Kita! :D:D:D  
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	7. Enchanted

**Sorry for the long wait, here's the latest chapter. It's very Mickey/Martha, so if you haven't really thought about that ship, read this chapter and be converted :P  
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**Enjoy :D**

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_Chapter 6: Enchanted_

It was a month or so after the wedding and Rose had eventually confided in Martha about how, during hers and Mickey's engagement, she had been comforted in more ways than one by the Doctor. Obviously, Martha already knew this and so acted as surprised as she could. Rose was gullible enough to believe that she'd been the first to tell Martha and had told her that she'd spoken to the Doctor since the wedding and they—well, she—had made sure that it never happened again. Martha tried her hardest not to laugh at this and had gone to find the Doctor who thought that this promise would be almost impossible not to break. After all, it was the Doctor and Rose.

Donna had just left Martha's house after they had been giggling like teenage girls over the fact that Matt had just rang Donna asking her out to dinner again. She'd explained to Martha, a little too graphically, the last night they'd spent together. She lent Martha the film they had watched, insisting that if she were ever in need of anything, she would only have to watch this film with a guy and that would be that. As graciously as she could, Martha accepted the film and quickly made up that she needed a shower and bid Donna goodbye before she heard anything else on the subject that had been going for the past few hours. Even though it was only three o'clock in the afternoon, Martha thought she may as well have a shower and then clean the house. It wasn't even that much of a mess but she needed some way of keeping her mind away from Mickey, considering what Donna had just told her it was best for her to stay as clean as possible physically in contrast to the unwelcome images that now invaded her mind.

After feeling much more comfortable and clean, Martha heard her phone vibrate from the now shimmering counter. She removed the rubber gloves and went to read the text.

_Hey Martha, how're you? I'm really bored at work, its unreal. I haven't spoken to you in a while, how are you? Mickey x_

Martha stared at the text for a good while before any of it really sunk in. It would have been a completely innocent text at first read. But Martha read it a good number of times to get a gist of maybe what Mickey wanted. For starters he'd just text her to tell her he was bored. Who does that? Especially since he had only ever text her once to before and that was to arrange a time to have dinner almost one year ago. Also he'd repeated asking her how she was, which could mean three things. One, he was really keen to know how she was. Two, he wasn't paying much attention to what he was putting. Or three, he forgot that he'd already put that because he wanted to make the text seem long and discreet by asking that simple question. If it was that one, then he'd failed a bit miserably. Martha just hoped it wasn't the second option. Instead of thinking over what to text back, she made the decision to go and visit him, sure that her mind was free of guilty thoughts and convincing herself that this was just a friendly visit to cheer him up and to give him someone to talk to instead of being bored all day. After all, she hadn't spoken to him properly since the day of the engagement.

On her way she passed the Powell Estate. She wondered whether Rose was inside, or whether she was in the TARDIS opposite. Resisting the urge to nip inside to say hello to the Doctor, Martha carried on past it. She saw Jackie on the other side of the road. She was with another woman who Martha didn't know. Martha waved and Jackie nodded back, she then muttered something to her friend who nodded in understanding. The woman looked over at Martha as though evaluating her. It was hard to tell whether this woman was beautiful or not. She was taller than Jackie, and a lot slimmer. She had dark brown hair which fell in perfect curls down her back just above her waist. Her eyes were a matching colour though there was little life in them. Her facial features were flawless and she showed no sign of a blemish anywhere. It seemed she was too beautiful, but there was no way that she could naturally look like this. Martha stared back at her until they eventually had their backs to each other. Martha tried to remove the image of this woman's face from her mind, she could sense the possibility of her eyes fixed upon the back of her head now. Paranoia got the better of her and she whirled around, only to find that Jackie and the woman were now out of sight round the corner. Martha breathed a sigh of relief and carried on quickly down the road.

When she got to the garage, she could only see Mickey's legs sticking out from under a vehicle. She gently kicked them and he rolled himself out.

"Martha!" he exclaimed, "I didn't expect you here."

Martha shrugged. "Couldn't keep you from being bored, what are you doing?"

"Just fixing something on this. The most fun I've had all day. How're you?"

Martha laughed a little bit "I'm alright thanks, bit hungry though; I've not actually had lunch today."

"You'd think I had, but they haven't let me go. Stupid really." Martha jumped at the chance, hoping it wouldn't seem too rushed.

"Can you get a break now?" she asked. Mickey glanced over at his supervisor who was watching them, he nodded and Mickey rushed to remove his gloves. Martha tried to look interested in looking at the car while Mickey was taking off his overalls. Even if he did have clothes on underneath, Martha didn't want to look like she was interested.

They had dinner in a nice restaurant, talking about a number of things like Martha's education and their jobs. It seemed like they were both trying to avoid to topic of Rose and Martha was grateful for that, she couldn't be doing with feeling guilty at the moment. Towards the end of the meal, Mickey received a phone call from his boss to say that they were shutting up an hour early and he could go home. It was then that they realised they'd been in the restaurant for a good two hours and it was almost six o'clock.

"What are your plans for tonight then?" asked Martha.

"I don't have any; Rose said she was going to be at Donna's all night." Martha noticed how he had almost winced at the sound of Rose's name and wondered whether her plans were really as she'd said.

"Come back to mine and watch a film if you'd like, I have no plans either, seeing as Donna's fully booked," Martha said and watched his face as he considered her invitation, she hoped she hadn't overstepped the mark.

"That sounds good," he said finally. "You best have good films."

* * *

When they got back to Martha's apartment, she thought it was safe to open a bottle of wine. That way, anything that may or may not get out of hand could easily be blamed on that, and not their own motivations. Martha placed the glasses on the coffee table in front of the TV and discreetly straightened the cushions while Mickey fished through the box of DVDs.

"Anything worth watching?" Martha asked hesitantly. What if he didn't like her taste in films?

"You've got loads of good ones, just not really ones I'm in the mood for watching."

"My bad. Okay just pick one out at random and we'll say we have to watch it."

Mickey laughed. "You can't say fairer than that." He closed his eyes and dug his hand in. Martha made a mental note to reorder and neaten the DVDs once Mickey left. He eventually pulled one out and rolled his eyes when he saw the cover: _Disney's Enchanted_.

"Do you want to pick again?" Martha asked. Mickey looked a bit sheepish as he contemplated the thought.

"The same thing will happen again," said Mickey, "besides, we can't break the rules." Martha grinned and went to put on the film; of course Mickey's last comment had a double meaning that she was definitely aware of. Whether or not Mickey was as well was a different story.

They commented the whole way through the film, and Mickey got embarrassed by singing along and revealing that he knew the words. Martha didn't seem to care and joined in which cheered him up greatly.

When the film was over, Martha got up to pour some more wine and to find some food.

"Can we watch another film? That was so much fun," asked Mickey, already rummaging through the collection.

"Yeah why not?" said Martha, bringing over a packet of crisps another bottle of wine.

"What's this one? I've never heard of it before." Mickey picked up a DVD from the floor next to the sofa; it was the film that Donna had lent Martha earlier that day. Remembering what Donna had said about it, Martha couldn't help but be intrigued by the nature of it.

"Donna lent it to me," she said. "I've not seen it yet, I'm not too sure what it's about." She added that on the end to make it clear that she wasn't forcing Mickey into watching it.

It turned out to be the most horrific thing either of them had ever seen. Even though Martha was a doctor and had seen her fair share of blood and gore, she had to flinch and look away. Once or twice, she'd hidden her head instinctively into Mickey's shoulder. What she didn't expect to happen was Mickey's hand stroking her hair. The feel of it made her stomach flip over excitedly.

It was only until half way through that Martha realised why Donna had said about it what she did. Some of the scenes Martha unwillingly recognised from Donna's over-detailed description of hers and Matt's night together. Martha shuddered at the thought, and Mickey, misinterpreting her shudder as fright, placed his arm over her shoulder and pressing her to his chest. Martha felt the butterflies again.

After two hours of pointless violence, horror and the most disgustingly graphic scenes, the film finally came to an end. Martha and Mickey stared at the screen in disbelief. Martha became aware that Mickey still had his arm around her and got up quickly to turn off the TV.

"Well, that had no story to it."

"No it really didn't. I must remember to burn this and never accept films from Donna again."

"That sounds like a good plan."

Mickey shifted in the sofa and both of them looked at the floor for a while until Mickey at long last got up and headed towards the door.

"It's late, so I best be off now," he said simply. Martha hurried to open the door for him.

"Okay, well, see you later then."

"Definitely. Thanks for having me."

"No problem."

Martha shut the door quietly behind him and leaned against it, breathing deeply. It was no more than she could have hoped for. Than she was allowed to hope for anyway. She managed to get through a friendly meal and two (very contrasting) films. Even though she had wanted that to happen so she wouldn't be left feeling horribly guilty there was still a part of her that had wanted something to happen. Anything. Clearly it wasn't enough that he had held her tightly through the whole film and had even been gracious enough to spend the day with her in the first place. But then there had always been hope.

She heard a faint knock on the other side of the door. She straightened up and opened it. It was Mickey again. He simply stared at her for a while, as though looking at her for the first time.

"Did you forget something?" she asked, her voice quiet, almost a whisper. Mickey nodded and took her face in his hands, pressing his lips to hers. Martha's heart stopped momentarily and then started again at double speed. She walked around so her back was to the door and she kicked it shut. She threw her arms around his shoulders and held him tightly while he kissed her.

They moved clumsily towards Martha's bedroom and Martha knew she should feel worried. She wasn't anywhere near as experienced as Rose. In fact, Martha was definitely the least experienced out of the five of them. She'd never had a proper relationship that led to this and the closest she'd got to herself was that time with the Doctor. There had been a time before that when she was sixteen though. But that happened when she had been walking home from town and it was dark. She'd been cornered in an alleyway. But fortunately it had not gone all the way. It would have done if there hadn't been that stranger walking past to save her.

But even though all these thoughts came into her head, they disappeared soon after when she became conscious again of the fact that Mickey Smith was kissing her. Nothing mattered anymore, she didn't think further about the fact that she had never done this before. Or the fact that Mickey was married to one of her best friends. Or the fact that this had to be the only time because they would have to keep this to themselves. That idea was exciting. The idea that this was forbidden and dangerous, it made them hold onto the moment and made them less resistant.

Martha felt herself being pushed lightly onto the bed with Mickey on top of her. Forgetting all her worries she hastened to remove his jacket and t-shirt. He allowed her to and did the same thing with hers. For the moment that their lips broke apart Martha looked at Mickey's chest. She knew that he would look like that; he was a mechanic after all. Martha started to feel numb as she became more aware of who she was with, who she couldn't help but be hopelessly in love with, whose hands were gradually moving further down her back.

* * *

Martha woke up feeling dazed. Joy seared through her when she looked up to see Mickey smiling at her, and she knew that her imagination was not good enough to conjure up that image. She hugged herself tightly to Mickey's chest and was mildly surprised that she was not self conscious at all considering that she had nothing on. She closed her eyes and sighed, attempting to hold onto the moment before she came back to reality, and she could feel it swiftly getting closer.

"What made you come back in?" Martha asked tentatively.

"I realised," he began, "the reason why I was upset that the first dinner with you didn't go well, why I was annoyed at the Doctor when you kissed him after I—that time. Why I couldn't bring myself to speak to you for the past few months, why I hated Warrick at the reception for flirting with you. Why I thought to text you yesterday and why I wanted to spend the whole day with you."

Martha's heart leapt. "And what was the reason?"

"Because I love you. I can't believe it's taken me this long to realise it but I figured it out in the end. I love you so much." He lifted his head from the pillow and kissed her again.

"I love you too," said Martha when they broke apart, "though I think I've known for much longer."

Mickey sighed and let his head collapse back down onto the pillow.

"I'm sorry," he whispered but Martha leant over him and kissed him again.

"I forgive you," she whispered back in his ear.

"You shouldn't though," he said, pulling away. "I have to go back to Rose because this shouldn't have happened. If I'd have realised a while back then I wouldn't have to put you in this position."

"This moment was more than I could have ever dreamed of," said Martha, "but I know that we can't live on dreams. You need to go back to Rose and figure something out. You love her as well."

"I know, and I do. But, Martha there's something about you that's different. Last night, for the first time in a while, I really felt like I was wanted. Rose doesn't make me feel this way. I don't know if I can simply walk away from you after that. I don't think I could do it. But I can't just divorce Rose. But I wish I could just walk away from what Rose and I have as well, to be with you. But I don't think I can."

"I know," said Martha. "Maybe you should go then."

Mickey looked down and it was clear how much he hated himself at the moment. They got dressed in silence and Martha led the way to the door. Mickey bent down to kiss her again before he left but Martha turned her head away reluctantly. Mickey nodded and left, leaving Martha to lean against the door again, but knowing full well that he wasn't going to knock again.

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**:'( Poor Martha..**

**Anyway, if you read it, please review :D  
Next chapter, there's more Doctor Who-ish stuff! That's when it all gets exciting :D:D:D  
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	8. The Calm Before The Storm

**As promised, here's the start of some Doctor Who-ish stuff, it's actually a two parter, so here's the first one :P**

I don't own Doctor Who, as I keep forgetting to point out...But I do own the creatures in this chapter, they came from a dream of mine :D I also own Polly the Dog. Literally.  


**Enjoy!**

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_Chapter 7: The Calm Before The Storm_

The clouds were gathering overhead, a certain sign of a storm brewing. There had been no signs; the weather had been practically perfect for the past few weeks. But this was the period that everything began. Rose had called on everyone separately to announce that she was pregnant, obviously she did it that way so she could break it to the Doctor that it was actually Mickey's, to save him getting his hopes up that possibly, just possibly he may have been able to give Rose everything she'd ever wanted. Of course he was now in a state of realising that everything he'd been told was true. He wasn't good enough for anyone.

It was clear that Martha had been avoiding everyone for the past week and no one knew why. She hadn't been seen for days at a time, her door was locked and she wouldn't answer her phone.

Eventually she managed to emerge and asked the Doctor to organise everyone to be in the same place; she had news.

They were all comfortably gathered in the TARDIS when she came in through the doors. She felt suddenly sick when she saw Rose sitting on Mickey's knee, with both their hands on her flat stomach. She felt the need to get this over with as quickly as possible and get back home, get in the bath and stay there for hours.

"Hi," she said, they all stared at her expectantly. "Umm, well I just thought I would let you all know, and I don't mean to, you know, steal Rose's thunder, but I'm also, kind of, pregnant. Yeah."

"No. Way," came Donna's voice.

The Doctor just smiled at her, with a look that said _we'll talk later_.

"Yay, we'll be baby buddies!" cried Rose, and Martha tried not to cringe.

"Wait, wait, wait," said Donna. "Whose is it?" Martha noticed her glance over at the Doctor. Martha chanced a look at Mickey quickly, but he was staring at Rose's shoulder.

"No one special," said Martha, "someone at work, I was at a party, and got too drunk. Obviously I wish I could take it back, because, well he wants nothing to do with it. He's already married." She shrugged. Donna and Rose both looked horrified, either at the supposed father or the idea of Martha going to the extremes of a one night stand. How gullible. The Doctor frowned and Mickey was still looking down. "Right, well, now you know, I'm off."

Breathing a sigh of relief that it was over and they all knew half of it, she set off in the direction of home. But then she heard her name called from behind her. A voice she really didn't want to hear right now. She turned to face Mickey.

"There's no guy at work is there?" he asked.

"Of course not. I'm not that careless." She turned to head off back home again.

"Martha, wait," Mickey called, she spun around again. "What do you want me to do?"

"I don't want you to feel like you have to do anything, think about it yourself, you got yourself into this mess."

"But, what about Rose?" he said. "What are you going to tell her?" Martha stared at him.

"I'm supposed to tell her?" she asked incredulously, "I'm not telling her anything, once you've sorted out your own decision, you can tell Rose, she's your wife."

* * *

As it happened, Mickey seemed to be doing a lot of thinking, he was avoiding both Martha and Rose it appeared, to make a decision between the two. Obviously, the Doctor had figured it out as soon as Martha announced it; he'd left her on her own for a good few weeks. But being the inquisitive alien he was, he couldn't just let it go, he had to know everything. Martha had explained everything that had happened in minor detail, she wouldn't have had to condense it down if the Doctor was female and would understand it from her point of view. Surprisingly, he did quite a good job.

"What are you going to do about it?" he asked.

"I'm just going to carry on as I am; I'm not getting rid of it. I'll just wait until Mickey comes up with his decision about how much involvement he wants in it."

"Well, in the unlikely event that he doesn't want to be involved, you know that I'll help as much as I can." He put a comforting arm around her and squeezed her gently.

"Thanks Doctor."

They were walking through the woods along a path with Martha's mother's dog, Polly. The dog suddenly stopped and glanced around, her ears perked up.

"What is it Polly?" asked the Doctor. She turned to look at him, tongue out and then ran off again in search of sticks. Martha and the Doctor shrugged at each other and carried on. Then it was Martha's turn to stop. She halted, staring forwards into the trees, frozen. She blinked and shook her head.

"Did you see that?"

"What?"

"It was like, this dark shape in the trees, like the dementors in Harry Potter, but I blinked and it disappeared." The Doctor frowned at her description and resumed walking.

Twice more, Martha saw the creature, and once the Doctor saw it as well. Now getting slightly anxious, they headed back home, but agreeing that they would all come back another time to see if they were still there. They were just approaching the gates when Martha noticed two ropes hanging from the tree; they were swaying, though there was no wind, as though they had just appeared there. They certainly weren't there when they came in. She shook her head again and followed the Doctor to the TARDIS.

* * *

It was odd to think of Donna as being one who cared so much about her two friend's babies. In truth, she spent all her time either with Martha or Rose tending to their needs and carting them to the hospital for scans, even when they were only a few months in. Although, Martha couldn't help but feel a slight bit of pity for her. Neither her nor Rose had reached 25 yet and Donna would be 30 in a few years.

They were both nearly four months and looking quite big now, though Mickey was still trying his best to avoid them both. Of course he couldn't always keep away from Rose, but she spent a lot of her nights in the TARDIS with the Doctor. She'd asked him to be a father figure to her child, which had put him under a lot of pressure and he convinced her to keep the family between her and Mickey.

They went back to the woods together one weekend, the Doctor, Martha, Rose, Mickey, Donna and Polly. Rose had got back from Las Vegas and they wanted to have a sociable walk, no matter how awkward. It wasn't hugely awkward, because Martha lagged behind with Donna while Rose and Mickey walked together and the Doctor threw sticks for Polly.

"So Donna," said Martha, "how are things going with Matthew?" The others all chuckled to themselves.

"Great," she replied indifferently. "Though he thinks you're all weird."

"How could he possibly think that we are not normal?" asked the Doctor sarcastically.

"Well for one, I've told him you're gay," said Donna bluntly.

"What?" yelled the Doctor. Rose, Martha and Mickey all burst out laughing.

"Yep," said Donna, managing to keep a straight face. "He thinks you're my gay alien friend."

"Oh so he knows I'm not human?"

"Well I told him you weren't, but I'm not sure he believes me, it's quite a big thing to believe really."

The Doctor grunted and began kicking stones which Polly chased after. The others eventually stopped laughing and they carried on in silence for a few minutes longer.

Rose hovered back to walk with Donna, leaving Martha, Mickey and the Doctor to all walk on their own. Mickey slowed his pace down until he was walking next to Martha, he glanced sideways at her but Martha didn't look back at him. Resigned to the fact that Martha wasn't planning on making conversation, Mickey slowed down further to walk on his own again. Martha sped up to walk next to the Doctor.

"Did you talk to him?" he asked quietly.

"No, I don't plan to make this harder for anyone, he needs to think of his decision on his own," replied Martha. They heard a loud giggle from behind them and turned around. Rose and Donna were whispering to each other, but occasionally glancing at the Doctor.

"What?" said the Doctor, uncertainly.

"Just talking about your capacity Doctor," answered Donna, causing a fit of hysterics from Rose. The Doctor's eyes widened and he spluttered. Mickey stared determinedly at the ground.

"My—my what?" Rose and Donna burst out laughing again. Martha rolled her eyes and whispered in the Doctor's ear.

"Yeah, I know what it is they're implying," he said, "just keep walking with me, Martha, I feel quite violated."

"Oh my God, what was that?" shouted Donna. Martha looked up but, to no surprise, there was nothing there. They must be back.

"Donna, what did you see?" asked the Doctor quickly.

"I don't even know, just this black thing that moved." The Doctor sighed.

"Martha, I think that's the same thing you saw last time." Martha nodded.

They turned to look back through the trees, and there, hanging in front of them were five ropes.

"Doctor, what the hell is going on?" asked Rose.

"I'm not sure. Let's keep going."

Reluctantly, they followed him further into the woods.

Martha had half a mind to ask the Doctor to turn around and go home because she had that possessive attachment to the bump in her stomach. But she knew that even though danger followed the Doctor, she also knew that the Doctor could easily chase the danger away.

They had subconsciously huddled closer together as opposed to being in groups of two. The Doctor was the only one who wasn't part of the new group for he walked a few paces ahead, staring at the floor. A strong gust of wind blew the leaves around his feet; the dust from the path flew up to reveal a number in the ground, as though someone had drawn it with their finger:

1987.

The Doctor froze in his tracks. His back tickled with pain and a wave of fear flew over him. The number in the ground disappeared quicker than it appeared and the Doctor hurried off again, so the others wouldn't notice what had happened. He looked over his shoulder to see if they were all still there. They all stopped as well thinking that something could well be wrong and looked behind them. Only Martha carried on walking, so as to get to the Doctor. However on her way she tripped, even though nothing was there for her to fall over. Mickey threw his arms out and caught her before she fell to the floor. She straightened up and carried on walking. Differently this time. Her eyes were wider and she looked straight ahead of her. She didn't stop either when she reached the Doctor; she carried on absent-mindedly through the trees in the same distant way.

They all hurried off to follow. The Doctor noticed carvings on the trees, the number 1987 again and again. Sometimes followed by two initials though.

M.B. and C.J.

He knew at once who they were, but why would they be working together?

"Doctor," he heard Rose's voice call worriedly. He spun around to find Donna staring at him with the same expression that Martha wore; she wasn't staring at him though, just in his direction. They stayed still as Donna caught up with Martha and they moved together like zombies. All of a sudden, they turned round to face the others, their face cheerful and ordinary.

"Come on people, keep up," Martha called. They turned round and began to walk like they were possessed again.

"What happened? Why did they go back to normal?"

"The sun," said the Doctor, more to himself than to Rose and Mickey. "They walked into the sunlight, and changed back. Why?"

"Can't you make them go back to normal again?" asked Mickey.

"I can't, but maybe whatever's possessed them will," said the Doctor angrily. They ran to catch up to them when Martha tripped and did fall to the floor this time. The Doctor hurried to help her up.

"Are you OK?" he asked, she nodded, confused, obviously, she was oblivious to what had happened.

All eyes were on Donna now, as though their thoughts would make her fall over again.

"Doctor?" asked Rose. "Who are M.B. and C.J.?" The Doctor looked at her. "The initials appeared in the ground, and on that tree. What does it mean?"

"You don't know M.B., C.J. is Jack, I want to know why he's doing this and for what gain."

At the mention of Jack's name, Donna, still in her trance slowly turned to face the Doctor.

"Jack. Marietta." She said in a lifeless monotone.

"Marietta?" asked three voices at once.

"I'll explain another time; basically she's not a nice woman." Donna's eyes widened at the Doctor. She brought her arm up towards his neck.

"Thunder," she said in the same voice. "Thunder."

The Doctor leant back and smiled to himself.

"Captain Jack's gay," he said teasingly. Donna sniffed deeply and moved quicker towards the Doctor. He started to run back shouting abuse at Jack, Donna was running now, both hands stretched out before her. The others sped off after them, watching Donna trying to reach for the Doctor to strangle him. The Doctor jumped over a branch in the middle of the path and Donna, not aware of where she was headed, tripped over the branch and fell to the ground. A muffled groan sounded and Donna heaved herself up quickly before Polly jumped on her.

"Lovely. Just brilliant," she said, annoyed and shook the dirt off her jacket and hair. "Anyone mentions this ever again and you're in for it. Noble style." Everyone laughed with relief that Donna was back.

"Please can we go back home?" asked Rose, with her hand on her stomach.

The Doctor nodded and the headed off back to the gate.

"Who is this Marietta?" asked Martha quietly.

The Doctor swallowed, clearly reluctant to bring up the subject.

"I used to know her, she's a Timelordess, which means that I have no idea of what she looks like and wouldn't recognise her in the street. Unfortunately, she'd recognise me. I used to look like this when I was a teenager, the regeneration cycle can repeat incarnations sometimes, I'm glad it repeated this one if I may say so myself. Only mine and her families have this gene though, it's inherited."

"Well, then she may be the same," said Martha reasonably. "What did she look like last time you saw her, then we know to look out for her."

"She—she—she's pretty indescribable, long brown hair, really scary eyes, artificially beautiful." He shuddered.

Martha froze, trying to arrange her thoughts.

"Hang on, is she really tall and slim? Her eyes look like she can see right into your mind? Really shiny perfect hair?"

The Doctor stared in horror at Martha, he nodded.

"I've seen her," said Martha simply. "She was with Jackie."

"No, are you sure it was her?"

"Why would Jackie make friends with someone like that unless they could get to you?" said Rose. She emphasised the name, obviously keen to create as much distance between her and her mother as possible, now that she knew who she was working against.

"What happened? Did she see you?" He looked so worried that Martha didn't want to tell him.

"Umm, well, I waved to Jackie, and she looked confused, Jackie whispered something to her, and I'll bet that she said that I was friends with you, she stared at me with those eyes. I take it this is really bad?"

The Doctor only nodded, he seemed too shaken up to say anything. He turned away and carried on walking to the gate, the pain on his back almost unbearable now, but he couldn't tell them why, they'd only overreact. He'd tell them sometime, maybe before _she_ showed up, she'd tell them anyway. He couldn't even bring himself to think her name.

Abruptly, he was frozen to place. He choked for breath as the feeling of an invisible rope tightened round his neck, pressing into his skin. Eventually when he was gasping for breath, Martha and Donna reached him and tried to loosen the hold to no avail. He could feel the blood pounding in his head and he tried to force his hearts to keep beating and then the hold was released. He collapsed to the floor holding his knees and spluttering hopelessly.

"What the hell happened?" demanded Donna.

"A rope—well, an invisible rope—strangling me." That was all that the Doctor managed to force out. He reached up to his neck, it was still sore, almost as though the rope was still there, but with a looser grip. He couldn't help but think that even though the dark shapes had not returned after Martha fell into her trance, that this was just the beginning and the proper storm was yet to come.

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**To be continued...**

**Which will only happen if you review... :D**

**And remember that woman who was with Jackie? Yeah, she's mine too..Kind of. My friend invented her, but I kind of stole her.. :P  
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	9. The Oncoming Storm

**Here's the second part, as promised.**

**Enjoy! :D**

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**_Chapter 8: The Oncoming Storm_

Back in the TARDIS and the Doctor was being horded with questions about this Marietta woman. They were all awaiting a response with anticipation until the Doctor finally gave in and told them as much about her as he could do, not giving them all the details, just the basic outline of what happened. They all gave him their undivided attention and Donna tickled Polly behind the ears to keep her entertained.

"When I was about twenty, there was this woman, yeah, she took a liking to me and one night decided to get the better of me. Against my will. My family and I were taken to her lair as prisoners and she kept us there for a year. Eventually I was let free because my family all died. I hadn't heard from her until now, she must have realised that I'm back looking the way I used to."

Even though they were certain there was more to the story, the others didn't press it any further. It was evidently a very sensitive subject for him; he hadn't even spoken her name yet.

They all sat in silence, reflecting. The Doctor was deep in the painful memory of the year with Marietta, Donna trying silently to figure out how a woman could have taken advantage of the Doctor, Rose was remembering Jimmy and felt even more sympathy for the Doctor than she had done before, Mickey was trying to decipher whom he loved more, Rose or Martha, and Martha was holding her stomach and awaiting something to happen.

Almost as though the TARDIS was listening to Martha's thoughts, it jerked so violently that they all flew into the console and back down to the floor. Polly barked loudly and ran out of the room, looking for somewhere that didn't rock and maybe somewhere that had food. Everyone leapt up and ran to the door, anxious to know what was outside.

They were outside an old, grand looking house. Even the moon overhead couldn't lighten up the bleak and sinister night. The vines crept up the walls to give the impression that the house hadn't been entered in years. The wind whistled through the trees and blew dead leaves around their feet. They would have found the cliché funny if the darkness and the shadow of the house hadn't been so intimidating.

In silence, someone could have cut the tension with a knife. They crept slowly into the building. It was pitch black inside and no one could see a thing; quite a few times they would jump out of their skin when they came into contact with something, only to find out that it was just each other.

Martha felt her way along a corridor, one hand secure on her stomach as though the baby might get taken from her by the darkness. She could no longer hear footsteps behind her and realised that she was now alone in the hallway. Wishing more than anything that she had someone holding her hand she headed forward, praying that she would find someone eventually and her fear would not get the better of her.

All of a sudden she heard a movement behind her. Even though she couldn't see, she whipped round. The moment her head moved she felt some sort of force grabbing her arms. While she was blind she still could tell that there was nothing solid holding her. She found that she had no voice left to scream and she felt herself being dragged backwards at lightning speed. Before she had time to close her eyes, the sensation stopped and she fell onto the hard floor. The room where she was now was dimly lit by a few flame torches on the wall behind her. Slowly, Martha got to her feet and headed towards the door. She'd only walked two paces when she collided with some sort of barrier, though there appeared to be nothing there. Reaching out her hands she moved them over the invisible wall, it was as solid as the floor beneath her feet, impossibly solid.

"Been there done that, there's definitely a wall there," came Donna's familiar voice from behind Martha. She turned around and hugged her tightly.

"How did we get here?" asked Martha.

"Sudden movements, they don't like it." She pointed to the side of the invisible cell, Martha jumped when she saw a black shape, it wasn't solid at all. The figure looked more like a gas, like a large amount of black smoke in one place, forming the shape of someone wrapped in a cloak with a hood. "Trust me to be the first one here."

Feeling more comfortable now that she had some company, Martha huddled up to Donna and rested her head on her shoulder.

Suddenly they heard the Doctor's yell. Before they could blink, the Doctor hurtled towards them faster than a bullet and landed in a heap before their feet. Without acknowledging Martha and Donna he got to his feet and ran towards the exit. The girls winced as he crashed straight into the invisible wall.

"Rose, Mickey, no sudden movements you hear me?" he yelled. They heard Rose shout back. Still oblivious to Martha and Donna behind him, the Doctor fumbled in his pocket for the sonic screwdriver and started attempting to open the cell.

"You're fighting a losing battle there Doctor," said Donna, he whipped around and grinned.

"Excellent, I thought we'd lost you both," he replied.

"Well the thing is Doctor," said Martha, "now we're all trapped and so we can't do anything to help."

The Doctor nodded in defeat and came to sit against the wall with Donna and Martha. Their heads all jerked up at the same time when they saw Rose and Mickey creep in through the nearest door. Martha, Donna and the Doctor all gasped when they saw that about a dozen of the black shapes followed Rose and Mickey into the room. They slowly turned around at the sound of the gasp.

"Sorry, just us, don't make any sudden movements," said the Doctor in a whisper.

"Got you, no sudden movements," said Rose back. "Where are you?" The trapped three frowned.

"We're right here, literally in front of you," said Donna.

"In case you hadn't noticed, it's pitch black, we can't see anything," replied Mickey.

"Can you not see anything?" asked Martha. She, the Doctor and Donna could see the other two perfectly clearly, including their confused faces.

"Nope," said Rose, "why, can you?"

"Yeah, we're trapped in this weird invisible cell thing," said Donna. "The Doctor's annoyed because he can't explain how it works. We've got torches behind us but I'm guessing they're inside here so you can't see them,"

"Well that's helpful," said Rose sarcastically. "Come on then Doctor, what do we do?"

"I'm thinking." The Doctor frowned at the black shapes surrounding Mickey and Rose, they remained completely motionless, only to be provoked by a sudden movement from either of them. "They seem to only exist in the dark, like when Martha and Donna were possessed, they snapped out of it when they walked into the sunlight. And we only ever saw them hiding in the trees, in the shadows. Rose, retrace your steps back a few rooms. I threw a torch close by, it'll be hard but I need you to find it. don't turn it on until you get back in here, then shine it in our direction, it will reflect from this wall and then these whatever-these-things-are will get a face full of light. That's the best I can come up with right now."

They saw Rose close her eyes, taking in the Doctor's instructions. "Right, gotcha." And she headed off slowly out of the door, her arms out in front of her, Mickey following, like two zombies. Worryingly, the creatures all pursued them, ready to strike.

* * *

The Doctor, Donna and Martha had no sense of how long Rose and Mickey had been gone but it didn't worry them that the others may have got lost because they would have had to walk at snail's pace and find a torch in the pitch dark. Also, they would have been aware if one of them had been caught as they would have been joined by them soon enough.

The Doctor was fiddling with the sonic screwdriver and buzzing it at various parts of the barrier. Martha didn't know whether he had any clue what he was doing or whether he was possibly making it more reflective for when Rose shone the torch at it.

"Doctor, why doesn't the guard do anything?" she asked. She'd been wondering it for a while, wondered if it was asleep on duty or something.

"Martha, you need to remember that these things aren't alive. They're a bit like puppets, under someone's bidding, three guesses whose. They're just programmed for sudden movements or sounds."

"So this woman's trained them to jump at loud noises?" asked Martha. The Doctor couldn't help but chuckle a bit at this analogy.

"Donna, that's not helping," he said suddenly. On the Doctor's left, Donna had taken off her shoe and was sitting cross-legged banging it absently on the barrier.

"Have you got any better ideas?" she asked, still staring straight ahead.

"As a matter of fact, I've already come up with a plan, and am trying out ways to help it," he said, Donna obviously thought he was being too smug and reached out her right hand. She placed it on the back of the Doctor's head and thrust it forward into the wall. There was no sound of impact but the Doctor fell back looking dazed. Martha hurried to check his forehead whilst trying extremely hard not to laugh.

"Thanks, Donna, 'preciate it," he mumbled, she nodded curtly and went back to banging her shoe against the barrier. Donna suddenly stopped and the others looked up to see Rose and Mickey edging slowly back into the hall, followed closely by the hooded figures. The prisoners breathed a sigh of relief to see the torch securely in Rose's hand.

"Okay Rose, you know what to do," said the Doctor calmly. "You need to face more to your left."

She turned as slowly as possible. "Right Doctor, I'm ready." She slowly held up the torch at shoulder height, directly facing the centre of the wall. Martha, Donna and Rose all closed their eyes, waiting for the light to blaze out.

"NO!" shouted the Doctor, the girls jumped and their eyes snapped open. Rose froze in place, the Doctor staring behind her in horror.

"Rose," said the Doctor, almost in a whisper. "Turn around, really slowly."

Martha and Donna lifted their heads just as slowly as Rose edged around blindly. Martha gasped audibly when she set eyes just behind Rose's right shoulder.

Mickey was standing there, still as a statue, thick, black smoke whirling around him, protruding gradually from his feet and was now at his waist. He was becoming completely submerged in smoke, so much that it began to look like fabric.

"He didn't even do anything, what did you go and do that for?" yelled the Doctor angrily towards the creatures surrounding Mickey. Rose, in panic, flicked the torch on; she was directing it towards the bottom of the barrier. The beam, instead of reflecting outwards, reflected upwards towards the ceiling. The light flared up, creating a massive wall of brightness between Rose, Mickey and the creatures and the Doctor, Martha and Donna.

The Doctor squinted while hugging Donna and Martha to his chest. He fumbled in his pocket and pulled out the sonic screwdriver. With his eyes almost closed, he unlocked his arm from around Martha to hold it in front of him, he buzzed it towards the centre of the illumination. Steadily the light crept towards the middle and disappeared.

Mickey was no where to be seen but the others could see one extra figure along the back wall, cowering from the light, but completely still. Rose was still frozen, the torch now giving her light to see around her.

"Doctor, what happened? I can see you now."

"You broke the barrier," he replied, his eyes fixed on the creatures. "Well done, I didn't think it would work without getting rid of all of these."

"Can we walk normally now?" asked Donna, still pressed tightly against the Doctor.

"I would imagine so, we're in the light." He let go of Donna and stepped towards the door. "Rose, keep the torch on, we're going back to the TARDIS."

"What about Mickey?" said Martha and Rose simultaneously.

"We'll come back for him, I just want to be somewhere where I can think clearly."

Without arguing, the others followed him out of the door and back to the TARDIS, looking back over their shoulders at the figures. Donna shivered and looked away and Martha took one last wistful look back at the thing that used to be Mickey Smith.

* * *

"Doctor, what the hell has happened?" demanded Rose as soon as the doors to the TARDIS were closed. Donna flung herself onto the seat and put her head in her hands. Polly had been waiting for them and ran over to Donna and sat on the floor at her knees, awaiting attention. Martha crossed over to furthest post from the door, sat down and leant against it. She held her knees to her chest and turned away from the others. Rose wouldn't move from the door, she stood there with her arms folded awaiting an answer.

"It would be much easier to understand if I at least knew what these things were called," said the Doctor. "Whatever they are, the can't function in light, we've already figured that out. They must have realised we had as well, because they transformed Mickey, that stopped us from killing them with light. The light you shone, Rose, was enough to break the barrier that separated us but not enough to get rid of them. Give me the torch." She obeyed, the Doctor buzzed at several points with the sonic screwdriver. "I'm hoping that I've increased the voltage by enough so the light will be too much for them. As for Mickey, well I'm hoping that the light may be enough to turn him back. But that is only if Mickey is still in there somewhere. If not, then they've already killed him and there's nothing we can do."

He heard a sniff from the other side of the console. He left Rose at the door and headed over to Martha. Bending down beside her, he placed a comforting hand on her back and kissed the top of her head.

"Come on then," he said to the three girls. He held his hand out to Martha, who took it, wiping the tears from her face. Donna put her arm around Rose's waist to steer the attention away from Martha's grief. The Doctor threw the torch to Rose who caught it.

"Okay, keep the light off, and stay together, Donna, keep hold of Rose and take my other hand," said the Doctor. They crept together through the large house, moving as slowly as they could.

They could see a dim light ahead from the torches in the room that they had left Mickey in. Still going slowly, the Doctor led them into the centre. One by one, the flame torches extinguished, leaving them in pitch darkness once more. They could feel themselves being surrounded by the creatures.

"Rose, direct it at the ceiling, go," said the Doctor loudly.

Donna, Martha and the Doctor looked down at the floor as Rose thrust the torch upwards and flicked it on. Immediately, she flinched away at the light. It flooded the entire room so much that they couldn't see at all. After about a minute, the Doctor yelled to Rose to turn it off. She did and they were left in silence and darkness again.

Donna and Martha felt the Doctor's hands leave their own and after a moment the torches were in flame again; the Doctor was reigniting them with the sonic screwdriver.

They looked up to the ceiling to see a mass of black smoke dissolving into thin air. But in front of them was not Mickey as they had hoped, and not all the creatures as they'd feared, but just one. It stood there, well if you could call it standing, completely motionless, but definitely there. Rose took a cautious step forward.

"Mickey?" she said tentatively, nothing happened. The Doctor inched in front of Rose and sonicked the figure.

"It's recent, that means this is definitely Mickey," he began, but then Mickey started to float towards the Doctor. The Doctor edged backwards but there was no escape nearby and he was being cornered into the corner of the room. "I'm guessing that our Mickey is immune to light." He tried to grin but his eyes widened and the others knew that he had no usual plan in his head.

Forgetting all about moving slowly, the girls ran to the corner. Clearly, Mickey was too concentrated on the Doctor to think about capturing them.

"Mickey, stop it!" shouted Rose to no avail. Donna jumped in between them in hope to save the Doctor. He shoved her out of the way.

"Donna, don't, that won't stop it."

They watched with horror as the smoke from what would be Mickey's head seemed to expand to begin to smother the Doctor as well. The colour started to drain from the Doctor's face and his eyes widened. Rose and Donna started to shout at Mickey to leave him alone.

"Stop it!"

"Leave him alone!"

"Doctor!"

Martha spun around, as though looking for some kind of help. She saw the sonic screwdriver lying to the side of her. She snatched it up and started to buzz it at the Doctor and Mickey. Her efforts proved futile and she stuffed it into her pocket and resorted to shouting instead.

"Mickey! Stop!" she yelled, nothing was working, "Mickey, you're better than this! Don't do it!" Martha's heart started beating faster and adrenaline seared through her veins, the smoke began to retract from around the Doctor, only slightly though, the others didn't notice and it soon started going back again.

"Mickey, you don't have to do this! The others are gone! We need you Mickey!" She was careful even now to say 'we' instead of 'I'. The others didn't seem to notice anything, maybe they were shouting too loud to hear her. Maybe they thought it was them that were causing the smoke to withdraw quicker now, they were definitely shouting louder. Martha threw caution to the winds.

"Mickey, I love you!" she yelled.

Suddenly, Donna and Rose stopped shouting and turned to look at her. Martha didn't look back at them, she stared at the Doctor and Mickey.

The smoke was now coming back much quicker. Soon the Doctor was completely free and he fell to the ground, pale as a sheet. Rose ran to help him up but Martha was now smiling to herself, the black smoke now diffusing all around the room and out of the door, leaving a confused looking Mickey in its place.

Donna tore her eyes away from Martha and ran towards Mickey, flinging her arms around his neck. Mickey looked taken aback but hugged her anyway. Rose helped the Doctor up and looked over at Martha, her eyes narrowed.

"Martha…?" she began.

"It doesn't matter, it worked didn't it?" said Martha, Rose hesitated then nodded. She went over to kiss Mickey furiously once Donna let go of him. Martha inhaled deeply, knowing exactly why Rose was giving Mickey this reunion. The Doctor rubbed his face and went over to Martha.

"Well done," he said grinning. "Thank you." He pulled her into a massive hug and swung her round. Martha wondered if this was payback to Rose for that kiss. She didn't mind and tightened her grip around his neck. "You must have meant that," whispered the Doctor in her ear. Martha didn't answer but squeezed him tighter so he would know her response was 'yes'.

"Come on guys, I feel like a bit of a lemon here," yelled Donna and the couples broke apart.

"Are you sure all the things are gone?" asked Rose, quite resentfully.

"Pretty sure, I think we disintegrated all of them just now," the Doctor patted Mickey on the shoulder and picked up the torch from the floor. He flicked it on, the light that radiated from the torch was much dimmer than the previous time and he used it to lead the others out of the house and back outside. The Doctor couldn't help but grin at the fact that they had all made it out alive. He turned the key and pushed the door of the TARDIS open.

His grin faded as soon as he opened the door. He stopped in his tracks and the others peered around to see what was wrong. There in front of the console, was a woman. Martha gasped, recognising her as the woman who was with Jackie. Rose, Donna and Mickey, judging by the Doctor's look of absolute terror, seemed to put two and two together and probably guessed who this was.

She was looking incredibly smug. Her posture was upright and proper, her perfect hair falling neatly into place. Her arms were folded and her weight was more on one foot than the other, giving her a glamorous look.

"Marietta," spat the Doctor, he said her name so disdainfully the others all felt a shiver down their spine. No one moved, but no one took their eyes off Marietta.

Marietta smiled arrogantly and moved towards the Doctor. Something about her expression made sure that the others were completely transfixed to the spot.

"Have you missed me Doctor?" she said quietly, reaching for his tie. The Doctor didn't answer her, she placed one hand on his cheek and caressed his face, using the other to push him into the rail near to where Martha was standing. One look from Marietta and Martha edged away, nearer to Donna.

Marietta placed her partly open mouth under the Doctor's ear, he closed his eyes and his breathing became deeper.

"How's your back?" she whispered seductively into his ear. The Doctor didn't say anything, she moved her hand around to his back and stroked it. The Doctor inhaled sharply in pain. The others had all backed to the console, looking helplessly at each other. They'd never seen the Doctor be this vulnerable before. It was that that had made them stay put for now. The fact that the Doctor was so scared obviously meant that this woman was dangerous. They didn't want to risk getting in the way in case she did something drastic.

Martha glanced at Donna and caught her eye. Donna mouthed something at her that could have been 'sonic'. Martha reached in her pocket and took out the screwdriver. Donna nodded and Martha passed it to her behind the backs of Rose and Mickey. Donna held out the screwdriver in front of her and advanced on Marietta.

"Right lady," she said bravely. "You've had your fun now, you can stop molesting the Doctor and leave."

Marietta stared at Donna with narrowed eyes. Then she tossed her hair back and laughed. The sound sent shivers down everyone's spine but Donna managed to stand her ground.

"You don't even know how to use that thing," said Marietta patronisingly.

"Yeah, doesn't that make it more risky?" said Donna.

No sign of fear even touched Marietta's face. Rose, Martha and Mickey were all in admiration of Donna who did not back down, even with Marietta just a few inches from her face.

"I think it's time that you left," said Donna quietly. Marietta examined Donna for a while, as though speculating what to do with her. She took one step backwards and her mouth twitched slightly at the sides. Rose, Mickey and Martha all hesitantly walked down to stand at Donna's sides.

"You haven't heard the end of me," she said fiercely. "You may have escaped my thunder the first time round, but rest assured, I will not leave you alone." She turned to the Doctor, who looked shaken. "You cannot get rid of me Doctor, even with your little gang. I've always been there haven't I? The scars on your back, that was me, the pain in your hearts. Until we meet again, Doctor."

She raised her hands and threw them in the direction of Rose. Nothing appeared to have happened but Marietta cackled loudly and ran through the doors, slamming them shut behind her.

* * *

**Yeah, you may hate Marietta. But I love her evilness :D**

**Depressing stuff next chapter, only a bit of it though. Thanks for reading. Please, please, _please _review!**

**Now, I apologise that updates won't be as frequent after this because I'm starting back at college in two days. If I can get myself to write as much as I can tomorrow, there may be another chapter soon.**


	10. First Strike

**Sorry it's taken so long to update, going back to college leaves me with no time :P. Hope you enjoy it, hope it isn't too upsetting either..or maybe I do, that way I'll have done what I aimed for..**

**

* * *

**_Chapter 9: First Strike_

Martha grabbed the Doctor's open jacket and pulled him into the room off the main one where the others were. She'd waited until he'd calmed down a bit before she interrogated him, but she wasn't standing for this ignorance anymore, however nosey it seemed, she had to know what exactly was going on.

The others had come to the conclusion that nothing had happened to Rose, and Marietta's gestures had just been to scare them into thinking she was more powerful than she was. Donna had vacated to the bed behind the curtains, completely oblivious as to what had happened there a number of times over the past year. Polly, resigned to the fact that no one wanted to play with her, sat at the foot of the bed chewing a shoe that she had found lying around. That had left Rose and Mickey to snuggle up to each other somewhat awkwardly on the seat next to the console. Martha had stolen the opportunity and abducted the Doctor.

She took him quite far from Rose and Mickey so they wouldn't overhear. They ended up in what appeared to be some sort of living room, obviously there had been a time when the Doctor had decided to take time off to decorate the place, unless he had hired someone else to do it for him. Martha sat the Doctor down on the creamy coloured sofa and set herself down next to him.

"Martha, what…?" he began but Martha shushed him.

"Doctor, I know that you're probably not in a mood to talk right now but I want to know at least some of what's going on, I mean, it could help me to face up to her. You have no idea how bad I feel for not coming to help you before." She looked at him hopefully, and to her surprise he smiled a little.

"Martha, I don't blame you in the slightest, in fact, I'm really quite glad that you left me alone, it was probably safer that way." Even so, Martha leant against him and wrapped an arm around his torso. "So what is it you want to know?" he enquired, trying to sound as cheery as possible.

"What's on your back?" she asked simply, the Doctor's smile faded and he looked down.

"I knew that someone would ask that eventually, I was going to tell you all when I was ready to, I'll show you now, but please would you keep it hushed?" Martha nodded quickly, looking concerned.

The Doctor shuffled out of his jacket and took of his tie.

"By the way Martha, this isn't nice," he said as he unbuttoned his shirt.

Martha's breathing became heavier as the Doctor lowered his shirt from his shoulders. Her hand flew to her mouth and she gasped loudly at the sight of the Doctor's back.

In between the Doctor's shoulder blades was a number: 1987. It was as though it had been carved in with a knife. It was mainly scarred over but by the looks of it, it looked as though it had been etched in quite a number of times.

"How old is this?" asked Martha.

"Marietta did it to me in 1987, the Gallifreian year. For that whole year, I was Marietta's hostage. If she ever got bored, she would re-carve one of the numbers. Sometimes if she was feeling especially nasty, she would do all four."

Martha was speechless. It was hard enough imaging this being done to anyone, but the fact that it was the Doctor made it so much worse. The Doctor slipped his shirt back on leaving Martha in silence. Eventually she spoke.

"How has Rose not noticed?" she asked. The Doctor looked somewhat taken aback.

"It hasn't been this clear for about 800 years. It was the one thing that stayed with me when I regenerated. She must have figured out how to do that so it would be with me as a constant reminder. Over time, it began to fade and the pain was much less. But then she came back, I could feel it again when we saw her initials in the woods, and then when she was close; it felt like it was burning. It's a bit like Harry Potter's scar, except mine looks more impressive."

Martha couldn't help but smile at him and he smiled back. He held his arms out to her and she fell into them, locking her own around his waist, trying carefully to avoid the wounds.

"Is there anything else you want to know?" asked the Doctor, Martha thought for a minute.

"No, I'll leave it at this for the time being, I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable with remembering your past." The Doctor smiled at her and put his jacket and tie back on.

"Not all of my past was that horrific, just the parts that involved Marietta," he said, taking Martha's hand and leading her back into the main room.

Mickey was lying across the captain's seat with Rose on top of him, they were kissing intensely. The Doctor and Martha looked at each other with raised eyebrows and they both coughed loudly at the same time.

Rose quickly jumped of Mickey and straightened her hair out. She looked at the Doctor apologetically, as though she'd just been caught doing something she shouldn't.

* * *

"My word Doctor, how big are your feet?" exclaimed Martha, her right foot slipped into one of the Doctor's seemingly gigantic shoes. Rose bit her lip and went back to what she was doing. The Doctor had enlisted the help of Mickey to cart four mattresses, duvets and pillows down from the Doctor's huge store cupboard for them to all sleep in the TARDIS: an alien slumber party as the Doctor had put it. Rose was straightening out the beds with Mickey, the Doctor was crawling over them, neatening the pillows, and Martha was having a break.

The Doctor grinned and turned around to face Martha.

"Well, you know what they say about big feet," he said, winking at her. Martha shook her head at him, but they all distinctly heard a muffled "Big socks" coming from the bed in which Donna was sleeping. Rose turned to Martha and nodded smugly; Martha raised her eyebrows and threw herself down onto one of the beds.

"I could seriously just sleep in these clothes right now," said Martha. "In fact I think I might do."

"I doubt I'll be sleeping so I'm not changing," said the Doctor, hurling himself onto the mattress next to Martha's.

"Why aren't you sleeping?" asked Martha quietly, turning to face him. Rose and Mickey settled themselves down on adjacent mattresses without speaking to each other and curled up separately.

"I can't sleep," began the Doctor in a whisper, "without Rose," he added, so quietly that he may as well have mouthed it. Martha put a comforting hand on his cheek and shuffled under the duvet.

Martha awoke with a start as a piercing shriek echoed round the TARDIS. She could hear bodies moving, the closest of which, the Doctor, jumped over her and scrambled over to Rose's side. Donna jumped out of bed and ran to crouch behind Mickey who was looking at Rose with the upmost panic on his face, his hand covered in a substance that could only be blood. Martha clambered over the mattresses to Rose's feet while the Doctor held her head gently to his left heart.

This seemed to calm her down slightly as she clung to the Doctor's jacket firmly, her fists clenched to relieve some of the pain. Her face was tensed and she was bent double, moaning in agony. The mattress was stained red.

"Rose what is it?" asked the Doctor, fearfully.

"Dunno," groaned Rose, through gritted teeth. The Doctor jumped to his feet and began working manically at the TARDIS controls while the others held Rose whose face was now streaked with tears. The TARDIS jerked around and when it eventually came to a stop, the Doctor raced back to Rose and lifted her into his arms. She held her grip tightly around his neck and wept into his shoulder. The others worriedly followed them out of the doors and found themselves outside the hospital that Martha used to work at.

"It'll be ok Rose, I promise," whispered the Doctor soothingly to Rose, though he didn't look so sure. Martha hurried in front of them and ran to the reception desk. She quickly explained the situation to the receptionist and strode off to find a free ward.

* * *

Martha returned to the ward a few minutes later with a several doctors and nurses in tow. Donna was pacing up and down the room with her hands firmly in her pockets, Mickey was sitting in the corner with his hands together, he occasionally glanced over to the Doctor who hadn't left Rose's side and was now holding her hand and stroking her hair. Rose was clearly still in anguish and looked exceptionally relieved when the doctors returned. Martha hurried to Rose's other side and one of the nurses spoke.

"I'm afraid that you can't stay here," she said to the others. The Doctor immediately straightened up, about to argue. Martha glared at him and he nodded reluctantly, he looked back at Rose whose eyes were full of terror.

"Don't leave me," she said pleadingly. "What's going to happen?" Her hand instinctively moved to her stomach. Martha placed her own hand on Rose's.

"I'll be here Rose, don't worry." The Doctor glared at Martha.

"Why can you stay here?" he said angrily.

"Because I'm qualified to help," she snapped back. The Doctor stayed silent and stormed out of the door, followed by Donna and Mickey, who gave a fleeting look back at Rose.

"I don't want to be in charge of anything that might harm the baby or Rose," said Martha bluntly to the other medics, Rose looked at her in despair.

"What could happen to the baby?" she asked, bending slightly forward to ease the pain. Martha just looked at her, her eyes full of sadness and Rose knew instantly what may happen. But that wasn't going to happen, she was going to keep this baby alive if it meant sacrificing her own life, she wasn't about to let another innocent baby die.

Not again.

She closed her eyes and her breathing became deeper, trying to focus on something else to take her mind off the pain. She imagined the Doctor was by her side, stroking her hair and holding her hand. She could almost feel his lips caress her cheek, moving down to her jaw, to her neck, her collarbone, her…

"Okay Mrs Smith." Rose's eyes flew open and she brought herself back to reality with a thud. "We're just going to put you on anaesthetic." Rose nodded, praying that everything would be so much better when she woke up. Martha placed a mask over her mouth and touched her cheek comfortingly.

"Okay, please could you count to ten?" said one of the medics, it could have been a man or a woman, Rose couldn't really tell; her vision was blurring slightly.

"One, two, thr…three…f…f…" and everything went dark.

* * *

Donna was just returning from her third trip to the coffee machine when one of the doctors came out of the room, all three of them looked up at him, but the solemn expression didn't bode well for any hope that they had clung to in the past half hour.

"Can we go in?" asked Donna, her voice croaky.

"We're just going to clear up and then you're free to go in, your wife will be stirring in a few minutes sir," he looked at the Doctor as he spoke whose eyes widened, he didn't look at Mickey.

"No, no, I'm not her husband," he said quickly, Mickey held his arm half up.

"That'd be me," he mumbled.

Mickey went in first but stayed away from the bed. The Doctor didn't feel like arguing and so crouched down on Rose's side. Donna wandered over to Martha who was staring at the computer screen, occasionally prodding the same button but always being given a failed response.

"Rose," said the Doctor quietly as Rose shifted. She opened her eyes with difficulty and tried to judge by everyone's expressions what had happened. Her eyes immediately welled up and she shook her head vigorously.

"No, no, it's not happened." She turned to the Doctor. "Tell me it's not happened."

The Doctor looked down but remained speechless. Rose placed her hands on her stomach and sobbed uncontrollably.

"No," she said again, the Doctor looked into her eyes with the same misery in his own. "Doctor, I can still feel it, it's still there. I can feel it."

This was enough for everyone, Mickey placed his hands over his eyes so nobody would see him crying, Martha just stared at the computer, the tears rolling down her cheeks. Donna was sniffing loudly and went over to stand by the window, her back to everyone else.

The Doctor didn't cry, but he couldn't bring himself to look at Rose again; seeing her like that was too much pain for him when he knew that there was nothing he could do to help. Rose seized the Doctor's hands and placed them on her now flat stomach.

"Doctor, you can feel it too can't you? Tell me you can," she said, she was hysterical now, her eyes were bright and staring, penetrating the Doctor's with her glare. The Doctor just looked at his hands; he couldn't bring himself to convince Rose of the truth. Slowly, Rose lay her head down on the pillow in defeat, but she was still breathing with difficulty through her uncontrollable weeping. The Doctor removed his hands from her stomach and cradled her. Her breaths became deeper and slower; she wrapped her arms around the Doctor's waist and rested her head against his chest. The Doctor looked over at Mickey and gestured that he ought to take over, Mickey nodded and the Doctor gently passed the now peaceful Rose to Mickey.

She was relieved to have Mickey there. She didn't hold him the way she did the Doctor, she felt as though this was Mickey her friend, the one who had been there, by her side, last time. The Mickey whom she loved dearly, but in a different way. Mickey, her best friend, not Mickey her husband, that Mickey didn't exist anymore.

The Doctor left them both and headed out of the room, followed silently by Donna and Martha. Almost at once, the Doctor rounded on Martha.

"Why didn't you save it?" he said, almost angrily. Martha looked thoroughly taken aback.

"What?"

"You said you would help. Then tell me why that baby died." Martha shook her head at the Doctor in disgust.

"You would think for even a moment, that we wouldn't do everything in our power to save a child? That baby was already dead; there was nothing that could have been done."

The Doctor closed his eyes. "I'm sorry," he said finally.

"You should be; I didn't think that you would ever say such things."

"Marietta," came a voice from next to them.

Donna looked at them both, they eyed her, questioningly. "It was Marietta," she said again. "When she did that thing with her arms at Rose, she must have killed it."

The Doctor sat down and ran his fingers through his hair, his whole hand quivering.

"I'll kill her," he said bitterly. "She did that to Rose and an innocent child, I can't let her get away with it."

"None of us will," said Martha, gently rubbing her own stomach. "We can't let her do any more damage."

* * *

Mickey and Rose had been clutching each other for a good five minutes, with the same question going through both of their minds, _why is this different?_ Rose eventually broke the hold, her face completely streaked with tears and make up.

"I love you Rose," said Mickey. Rose looked at him.

"I love you too," she said, but it didn't feel right, she did love him, but she wasn't in love with him.

"You love the Doctor as well though," said Mickey, without the slightest bit of resentment, it was almost teasing.

"Mickey, I'm not in love with you anymore," she said.

"Me neither," he said and she breathed a sigh of relief. "I don't think we ever were."

"Oh no, we were," said Rose, "back in the day."

Mickey laughed. "Yeah, when the Doctor wasn't around." Rose had to smile as well. And it was then that she knew what she wanted. She wanted this. She wanted to be able to laugh with her Mickey again, to make jokes and to not have the unwanted bond of marriage locking them together. It was almost as though Mickey had read her mind.

"I'll get the papers tomorrow," he said, grinning. Rose beamed and flung her arms around his neck.

"I think it will be much better," she said softly.

* * *

The atmosphere inside the TARDIS was bleak. Nobody was speaking and everyone was trying to do something so that it would appear to the others that they weren't just in an awkward silence and that there were reasons behind not talking to each other.

Donna was lying on her bed with her eyes closed, though she wasn't making any noise so the others knew that she wasn't really asleep. Rose was sitting in the captain's seat, both hands against her stomach, thinking to herself about her deceased child. She was conscious that nobody was looking at her and so allowed her tears to run silently down her face. Both the Doctor and Mickey were not in the control room with the girls. Mickey hadn't wanted to come back in with them and so had taken Polly back to Martha's mother's and gone home by himself and the Doctor had disappeared off somewhere else within the TARDIS as soon as they'd got in.

Martha was leaning against Rose's chair, now just about finishing writing her occasional journal entry. She drew what she was writing to a close and tossed her book down next to her, without noticing that it lay open, she stood up and looked at the other two.

"I'm just going to find the Doctor," said Martha quietly. Donna didn't move and Rose nodded but didn't look up and Martha felt a fresh surge of guilt for the baby that was growing inside her own body and not Rose's.

Rose glanced behind her shoulder when she heard Martha's footsteps fade away. She knew that Donna was still pretending to be asleep and couldn't see her anyway. Wiping her eyes, Rose looked down to the floor next to the chair. She frowned as she caught her name standing out from Martha's diary. Rose's nosiness took her over and she reached down to pick it up.

She never intended to read any of it, just to see how far back it went and to see some of the things that Martha had written about.

She flicked it to the middle and smiled slightly, even in a little notepad, Martha still made sure that it was all neat and orderly. She even put titles above each entry along with the date and time. She carefully turned each page, catching words like 'CSI' and 'baby'. She reached a page from several months ago and saw her own name along with Mickey's; the title read 'Confusions'. Looking back over her shoulder to check that Martha wasn't behind her, she began to read.

_Well, not much has actually happened, except well I'm pregnant. Yup and the father is none other than Mickey._

Rose's heart stopped.

_I don't even know why. Well Martha, when two people…yeah enough with that._

Rose smiled in spite of herself.

_Oh my gosh Rose. What the hell am I going to tell her? Oh no, I can't do this. I have to tell her. It's only fair but I just don't want to push this burden onto her, and plus I don't want to do anything to ruin her life. She's been so good to me & I know she'd hate me. I think the Doctor has an inkling but right now I think I'm ok. No I'm not. What're things going to be like with Mickey? I just feel…I dunno. Oh crap I really like him. It's so bad. I shouldn't, I can't, it's horrible to Rose, she should be happy. Unfortunately she has to be happy with the one guy…I could…actually…love?_

It was like time had just come to a complete standstill. Mickey and Martha. That was all that was going through Rose's head. She had no idea what to think though, it was as though she felt that she should be angry at Martha, should hate her. But the fact that Martha had been so worried about what Rose would think made her calmer, happier.

It didn't seem to matter that her best friend was in love with her husband, he wouldn't be her husband for much longer so what did it matter?

Of course the Doctor had known, he would have figured it out practically straight away, before anyone else even knew she was pregnant. The only thing that seemed to bother Rose was that Martha hadn't told her, she didn't care that Mickey and Martha had obviously had an affair behind her back and produced a child out of it. But if Rose had known then things would have been different, she would have realised sooner that she wasn't supposed to be with Mickey and he and Martha could have spent the whole of her pregnancy as a couple.

But Martha had been alone. She had endured Mickey and her for so long and put up with it. Martha was a hero in Rose's eyes, but if Rose had only known then things would have been different, and more people would have been happy. She could have been with the Doctor; he could have held her hand through her miscarriage without feeling guilty about Mickey, because he would have been with Martha.

Damn.

Rose's stomach flipped as she looked over her shoulder for a second time.

Martha was standing there and the Doctor next to her, both staring at Rose, horrified.

"Martha, I…" began Rose but Martha spun round and ran out of the room. Rose hung her head and the Doctor walked over to her, his expression serious.

"Rose, why did you do that?" he asked, calmly but harshly.

"I saw my name and…I'm sorry."

"It's not me you need to apologize to, how much did you find out?"

"About Mickey and the baby," Rose said in a small voice, the Doctor walked away without a word to her to find Martha.

He found her just outside, in the hallway. She was facing the wall with her arm over her face. He placed his hand on Martha's shoulder and moved closer so his chin was resting next to her neck.

"How much does she know?" asked Martha croakily, turning to face the Doctor. He looked at her and she understood exactly that Rose knew the worst. She laid her head in her hands and the Doctor pulled her close to his chest.

"It's okay Martha," he whispered. "She's not angry." Martha looked up.

"Really?" The Doctor nodded and led her back with his arm draped over her shoulders.

They entered the control room in silence, the Doctor hesitated and hung back. Rose looked up at Martha and swallowed.

"I'm sorry," Rose and Martha said simultaneously, they both laughed.

"What are you sorry about?" asked Rose.

"For sleeping with your husband," Martha said as though it was obvious. Rose waved her hand in dismissal.

"Psssh, like that matters," she said and Martha smiled. "I shouldn't have looked through your diary."

"That was probably the easiest way for you to find out," said Martha. "I don't know when I could have plucked up the courage to tell you."

"Don't worry about it, I'm not angry with you, Mickey on the other hand, will get a beating for not playing the father for you."

Martha didn't say anything; she ran over to Rose and threw her arms around her neck.

"So, what am I missing here?" asked Donna from the other side of the room.

"Mickey and Martha are having a baby," said Rose happily, squeezing Martha.

"No one ever tells me anything," said Donna. "Congratulations Martha."

"Thank you," said Martha, smiling at Donna.

"So, are you planning on going after him?" asked Rose.

"Am I supposed to?" Martha replied.

"You should, if you're having this child."

"I don't know, I think I'll leave it for now."

"Why?" Rose was horrified at the thought.

"Because you guys aren't even divorced yet."

"Don't do this because of me," said Rose. "I'm telling you now, I'm cool with it." Martha shook her head.

"I'm still not going to chase him up, he's just lost a child and a wife. I'm giving him some space."

"Well, rest assured, he'll see sense and he'll be chasing after you, I'll make him."

Martha shook her head again laughing. Everyone knew now. Rose was happy about it as well, it couldn't have gone better.

* * *

Rose was coping with the miscarriage brilliantly. At least, in front of other people she was her usual cheery self and didn't break down while other people were around. However, the others had seen her crying silently by herself quite a number of times, but never disturbed her; it was a difficult thing to get over.

It had been one week since the incident and the others insisted that Rose take a break somewhere, she decided to go and visit her cousin, Sara Sidle, in Las Vegas along with the rest of the CSI team there. Because Rose had spent summers there as a teenager, the others knew that it would be the perfect place for her to blow off some steam and keep her mind off other things.

With Mickey working, it left just the Doctor, Martha and Donna with the TARDIS all to themselves. With Martha being nearly six months pregnant, the Doctor was adamant that Donna resign her bed to Martha, much to Donna's reluctance. Rose had been gone for almost a week and was expected back the next afternoon, giving the Doctor one more night without her, putting up with Martha's mood swings, which were, admittedly, less than expected.

The Doctor shifted his mattress next to Martha's bed.

"So what's going to happen with you and Mickey?" whispered the Doctor.

"Never mind that, what about you and Rose?" replied Martha.

"What about me and Rose?"

"You know perfectly well what," Martha hissed. "You don't have an excuse now to not be with her."

The Doctor remained quiet, clearly thinking of an excuse. "I can't give her children. You saw what she was like during the miscarriage, she deserves a family."

"Was it Marietta who told you?" demanded Martha. The Doctor nodded sheepishly, knowing what was coming. Martha's eyes widened and she clapped her hand to her forehead.

"You are kidding me," she said. "You mean you would believe a word that that cow said to you?"

"Martha, I don't want to have this conversation, I know that she told me the truth and I don't want you of all people to ridicule me for believing her, she's right." Martha shook her head but didn't press the subject further; they were interrupted by Donna.

"Guys, why are you so far away?" she asked, hauling her mattress closer. The Doctor lifted his duvet to crawl inside when Martha noticed something purple next to his pillow.

"What's this?" she asked, pulling out a t-shirt. "This isn't mine is it?" the Doctor snatched it back.

"No, it's…erm…it's Rose's." He busied himself in fluffing his pillow to hide his embarrassment.

"You sleep with Rose's top?" asked Donna. The Doctor nodded shyly.

"It's the only way I can sleep when she's not here," he said. "Go on, laugh all you like."

"I'm not laughing," said Martha. "I think it's adorable." The Doctor grimaced.

"You know what I think," said Donna suddenly. "I think it's unfair."

"Why?" asked the Doctor.

"You miss Rose after like a day. I'm gonna see if Matt misses me at all." She reached for her phone and began dialling.

"Umm, Donna, it's two o'clock in the morning."

"Well, it'll serve him right for not sleeping with my top. Hello, Matthew. It's Donna. What do you mean early?...I take it that means you were sleeping then, eh?…Does that mean you can sleep fine at night?…Even without me there, or one of my tops?…Well of course you never thought about it, you clearly don't miss me that much…Really?…You do?…There's one in your underwear drawer…It's blue…Hmmm…No, the Doctor and Martha are here…Yeah, the gay one, sssh Doctor, okay he's not actually gay…No…You want to meet them?...Why?...Okay then, if you really want to…next Friday?...Sounds good…I'll meet you somewhere in London…I'll ring you…A blue box…Spaceship, Matt, alien…What do you mean weird?...Okay, see you then…Bring what?...Strawberry jam, got it, bye."

The Doctor and Martha were gobsmacked.

"Anyway…" said Martha eventually.

"Yeah, I'm hungry, let's order a pizza," said Donna.

"Donna, two o'clock. In the morning."

"C'mon Doctor, that's what people live in London for." She grabbed his phone from next to his mattress. "Do you have a number for pizza from another planet?" the Doctor gawped at her while she immersed herself in searching through the Doctor's phone box. "Oh my God, fat free pizza, sold." She held the phone up to her ear. "Damn, it's busy. Umm, you may wanna talk about something else, I could be a while here," she said to the other two.

"So how's the baby?" asked the Doctor, nonchalantly.

"Fine," Martha laughed. "It's kicking again now actually, you want to feel?"

"Always," said the Doctor, pressing his hands to Martha's bump. "Tha—that—that is amazing. Really, really amazing that is."

"Oh. My. God," said Donna, astounded.

"What?" asked the Doctor, his hands still on Martha's stomach.

"Fat free fajitas!" shrieked Donna, holding up the phone once more. "YES! It's ringing! Hello?...Yeah please…Three years?!...Okay, deal…A blue box in London, Hyde Park, Earth. Ace, thank you, bye."

"Well I think I can safely say you're the first person to order food from another planet to the TARDIS," said the Doctor.

"Which is why you need someone like me on board mate, can we go forward three years?"

"You mean that it's going to take three years to get here?"

"Yeah, and I'm hungry now, so please?" The Doctor rolled his eyes at her and began working at the TARDIS controls.

"Three years into the future, please don't go outside or we may face disastrous consequences by revealing the future, thank you," said the Doctor in his best air hostess voice. As soon as he had finished, there was a knock on the doors.

"I'll get that," said Donna quickly, she rushed to the door and opened it slightly, so as not to reveal the humongous space inside, she took a container from the delivery alien and shut the door behind her. "For an alien, he didn't look too conspicuous, better than some."

The Doctor coughed loudly from the console, Donna ignored him, carefully opening her food. She lifted the lid cautiously and yelled out in surprise.

"Doctor, it's moving!" she shouted, he rushed over to peer inside, Martha leaned over the beds to have a look.

"Urgh, that looks really weird," said Martha, disgusted.

"Well, you aren't eating it," retorted Donna, poking her fajita. Gradually, the movements became slower until it completely stopped. "It is dead right Doctor?" The Doctor examined it closely.

"Yes, I would imagine so; it must be some strange, alien way to keep these things fresh, especially if it takes three years to deliver. Are you actually going to eat it?" he asked, eyeing the food suspiciously.

"Of course I am; he's coming back in five years to collect his payment."

* * *

**Okay, that last bit was admittedly a little silly..it just sort of came about when I was planning it, just gives it a bit of light humour. Apologies if Donna is all wrong, it's so easy to go over the top with her..Ooops.**

**Please review, thanks. (:  
**


	11. Secrets

**About time! I hear you cry. Well, those who have not lost complete faith in me. I am honestly, so sorry for the wait. Since going back to college, I've just been swamped and time has been stolen from me. **

**Now, I've seen from a summary of a fanfic, that the basicness of this chapter has been done between the Doctor and Rose. However! I came up with this idea in June of 2008. I win.  
Hope you enjoy it, and hope it's been worth the wait.**

**

* * *

**

_Chapter 10: Secrets  
_

"Happy birthday Doctor!" yelled Donna directly into the Doctor's ear to wake him up.

"What?" mumbled the Doctor, stirring.

"Happy birthday you old codger, are you a thousand yet?"

"No, still nine hundred and…something. Hang on, how do you know it's my birthday?" he asked, rubbing sleep from his eyes.

"Martha told me," said Donna, looking extremely pleased.

"Martha," said the Doctor angrily, rounding on Martha, "I gave you specific instructions, not a word to Donna."

"But Doctor, I wasn't going to let your nine hundred and fifth birthday go amiss, it's an important milestone."

The Doctor groaned and collapsed back down onto his pillow.

"What do you want to do today then?" asked Martha kindly, trying to cheer him up.

"Nothing, I'm old, I don't want to do anything," moaned the Doctor.

"Lighten up gramps; we're going to take you out to some bar." Donna gasped. "We'll take you to one on a different planet, that'd be brilliant. Rose'll be back, and we'll help you to rediscover your youth."

"Fine, fine, we'll go to some pub somewhere, but you can't make me get drunk, I don't do things like that."

"Okay," said Donna. "We'll just have a quiet drink somewhere and go home in exactly the same state as when we arrived, sounds thrilling." But she made a face at Martha as if to say 'yeah, we'll tell him that, but really, we're going to get completely leathered'.

"Remember though, I can't drink," said Martha. "I'll assign myself to designated driver."

"I wish I had the pregnant excuse," said the Doctor. "Martha, do you want to go down to the garage and invite Mickey?" Martha raised her eyebrows.

"Or rather, do you want me to go and invite Mickey?"

"I know that you want to anyway but, yeah, it'd be nice to have him there."

Martha huffed and heaved herself up, grabbed her clothes and shuffled out of the room to change.

* * *

She waddled back in ten minutes later, fully dressed and ready to leave.

"I've moved the TARDIS to just round the corner, saves the journey," said the Doctor, grinning and still in his striped pyjamas.

"Thanks, I didn't much fancy walking from Hyde Park," said Martha, as she stepped out of the door.

She could see the back of the garage in front of her, and round the corner would be Mickey, and the thought suddenly crossed Martha's mind that Mickey still didn't know that Rose knew everything; it was his own fault for being so busy she supposed, but that now meant that Martha was now obliged to tell him.

Almost as soon as she closed the TARDIS door behind her, the whirring sound began and the box dematerialised behind her. Composing herself, and taking deep breaths, Martha strode confidently round the corner.

She saw him under a car, with his feet sticking out of the side. She felt a similar feeling to that which she'd felt about six months ago when she'd gone to visit him at work. Before she had chance to get his attention, a co-worker of his booted his shins.

"Mickey, visitor," he said, and Mickey slid out gracefully from under the vehicle. He frowned slightly when he saw Martha standing there, which confirmed that he still had no idea.

"Hi, Martha, is everything okay?" he asked politely.

"Everything's fine," she answered, then deciding she should just get it over and done with. "Rose knows by the way."

"W—w—what?" Mickey stuttered. "How?"

"She read my diary and found out," Martha said, shrugging. "It's fine though, she's really fine with it."

Mickey looked relieved. "So, it's all in the open now?" Martha nodded. "That makes me feel so much better, you have no idea."

Martha laughed. "Yeah me too, and I'm glad I didn't have to tell her."

"Yeah, me too. Well now that we don't have to hide it, I think I'd quite like to try and fulfil my duty as father."

"What do you mean?" asked Martha quietly.

"I'll accompany you to the hospital, buy things for the baby, help get everything sorted, and of course, I'll be right by your side at the birth."

"Really?" Martha's heart leapt at the thought of Mickey holding her hand during her labour.

"Yes, so can I have an update? Is everything okay? Do you know the gender? Have you thought of any names? When's the due date?"

"Woah, slow down, okay, yes, everything's fine, no I don't know the gender and I don't want to know until the birth, I've not really considered any names yet, I had been hoping to discuss that with you at some point, and the due date is the 15th of October."

"Excellent," he said simply and pulled Martha into a hug; she wrapped her arms around his neck and closed her eyes, allowing her heart to speed up at will.

"So what happens after it's born?" asked Martha as they eventually let go.

"Do you want anything to happen?" replied Mickey.

"If I wanted anything to happen afterwards, I'd probably want it now as well."

"I feel like the child deserves a family," said Mickey, "considering all it's been though."

"Yeah, I agree," said Martha. "I think that we need to think about what's best for the child."

"Over anything else," finished Mickey. He took Martha's hand in his own, twisting their hands so their fingers were locked and facing upwards. Martha leaned up towards Mickey, but he let go of her hand and put both his hands on her face and pulled her into a kiss. Martha flung her arms around his neck once more, allowing her lips to move with his and Mickey ran his fingers through her hair, clutching her tightly to him. Mickey's co-worker rolled his eyes impatiently and went back inside, obviously aware that his colleague was not planning to get back under the car any time soon.

"I think it's the best way," said Martha as they finally surfaced.

"Yeah, and it works for me too," teased Mickey, staring intently into Martha's eyes.

"What do we tell the others?" asked Martha suddenly.

"Nothing, we'll keep it private to see how things go, if we're still good, we'll 'get together' at the birth, we'll pretend it starts from then."

"Our friends are perceptive people though; they'll probably figure it out."

"No, not if we do our best, we should be okay."

"The Doctor will know straight away."

"Ahh, see I disagree, the Doctor'll be clueless, if anyone figures it out it'll be Rose."

"Why Rose?"

"Because, she's known me for a long time, she'll pick up a change in my mood and guess the reason why."

Martha nodded in agreement. "I suppose you're right there, well, you'll just have to carry on acting depressed until the day, meanwhile, I'd imagine we can't be normal around each other in front of the others, we'll just have to see each other in our own time."

"I think I can find time to see you," said Mickey, smiling and leaning down to kiss her one more time.

* * *

The Doctor was tapping his feet impatiently waiting for Rose to open the TARDIS doors and for him to see her again. Donna had gone back to visit her Grandad and Martha had text him to say that Mickey couldn't make it and that she was on her way to hospital for another scan, which left the Doctor alone to greet Rose when she came back which obviously suited him fine.

He had been waiting for over an hour when he could finally hear the sound of a key turning in the lock. He ruffled his hair in his hands and stood up, fixing his eyes on the door. He'd made the beds again from the night before, but only convincing himself that the reason for this was that he didn't want Rose to come back to a messy TARDIS, obviously that was not the actual reason. The door opened and the Doctor immediately took a step back, for it was not Rose who had just entered, but Marietta. Of course.

* * *

The Doctor could hardly breathe. It had been half an hour after Marietta had left but he was still in a state of shock and could not bring himself to move. He simply curled up with his knees pressed to his chest and lay trembling, which gave Rose a considerably large shock when she walked through the doors to find the Doctor lying naked on the bed in the corner, his back stained with blood.

"Oh my God, Doctor what the hell happened?" yelled Rose, slamming the door behind her, dropping her bags and running hastily over to the Doctor, not bothering to cover him up.

"Rose," gasped the Doctor shakily.

"It's me Doctor, I'm here," she whispered placing her hands on his cheeks and kissing his forehead.

"Rose," said the Doctor again, instantly wrapping his bare arms around her waist and holding her as tightly as he could.

"Sssh," she said softly, allowing her fingers to run smoothly through his hair. "Shall I get your clothes?" she asked, reaching over for his trousers. Rose helped him into his clothes, leaving his top half bare so the blood wouldn't soak his shirt and jacket.

"Thank you," said the Doctor, laying himself down on the bed again.

"Shall I get Martha to sort out your back?" Rose enquired, secretly not wanting anyone else there.

"Don't leave me," said the Doctor panicking. "She might come back."

"Was Marietta here?" demanded Rose. The Doctor nodded. She hated to see him like this. She was so used to the Doctor putting on a brave face for everything, to see him this vulnerable was unnerving. "What did she do to you?" The Doctor closed his eyes, not wanting to recall the past half hour; his back was aching with pain.

"She…erm…yeah," he said simply, not being able to get the words out. Rose bit her lip; she understood.

"Come with me," she said at last. "We need to get your back cleaned up." She stood up and held the Doctor's hand, leading him through the TARDIS to the bathroom.

* * *

"Tell me if it hurts too much," said Rose, pressing a soaking wet sponge gently to the Doctor's bleeding back. She had required the Doctor, more for her own benefit, to lie face down on the bathroom floor so she could sit by him to nurse his back as best she could; she had restrained herself from sitting on top of him.

"No, this is good," said the Doctor, and Rose could easily detect the suggestiveness in it, even Marietta couldn't stop him. Of course, Rose had to play along. She straightened up and brought one leg out and placed it on the other side of the Doctor's waist and continued to massage him.

"How are you feeling now?" questioned Rose, casually, reaching for a towel to dry his back now the blood was gone.

"Much better, you have a knack for this Rose," he said, turning over so he was lying on his back.

"What, healing wounds or making it easier to forget?" said Rose, still sitting on him.

"Both," grinned the Doctor, reaching out to tuck Rose's hair behind her ear.

"Glad to help," murmured Rose, she placed her hands on the floor either side of the Doctor's head and leaned down to kiss him. "I missed you," she said for the small second that their lips were apart before the Doctor pulled her down onto the floor with him.

"Does this mean you've changed your mind?" asked Rose, cautiously as the Doctor reached for her jacket.

"I only wanted what was best for you," said the Doctor, not hesitating. "And something tells me that you know better than I what that is."

"Hmm, I think I know," said Rose as the Doctor's lips ran along her neck.

* * *

"Doctor?" came a muffled yell from the control room. The Doctor and Rose suddenly leapt apart and hurriedly clambered into their clothes, only then did the Doctor realise that his shirt, jacket and tie were still where Marietta had thrown them, and where Donna and Martha were now.

"Coming!" yelled Rose, the Doctor grabbed her arm and gestured to his bare torso. "Stay here," she hissed, running out to greet the others.

"Hi Rose, where's the birthday boy?" asked Donna, her eyebrows raised.

"He went to have a shower, without realising that he left his shirt and jacket out here, I just got back and he asked if I could go and get them, to save his embarrassment."

Martha and Donna weren't convinced at all by Rose's story, considering that her shirt buttons were done up wrong, but Rose didn't look at them and grabbed the Doctor's upper garments and ran back out to meet him.

"Good call," said the Doctor. "Except they won't believe you."

"Oh well, they can think what they want, I suppose it was inevitable really," said Rose, adjusting her shirt buttons, the Doctor smiled at her until she finally looked up at him and kissed him again before they rejoined the others.

"Good shower Doctor?" asked Martha suspiciously.

"It was excellent thanks," replied the Doctor indifferently, discreetly poking the small of Rose's back, she narrowed her eyes slightly but said nothing.

"Right, presents," said Donna, clapping her hands together. "Then, I am going to direct the TARDIS to a bar in outer space, I'll you my instincts."

The Doctor placed his hands on his face in defeat. "Okay."

Donna quickly reached in her bag for her gift. She handed the envelope to the Doctor sheepishly and he took it, fearing what might be inside. He slid it open and pulled out the card inside, he read aloud.

"_Doctor, I didn't forget, I just misplaced the date. IOU one anti-wrinkle cream. I'll forget that too, but you can remind me if you really need it. Happy Birthday Spaceman. Love Donna._" He looked up at her and she smiled hesitantly.

"Happy birthday?"

"Thank you for the thought Donna, very…thoughtful. Martha?" the Doctor said cautiously, Martha handed over a beautifully wrapped rectangular present with a ribbon tied round it.

"Happy birthday," she said, beaming.

Martha had given him a photo frame, inside, a picture of the four of them, all smiling at the camera which, if memory served correctly, Mickey had been holding. They were all outside the TARDIS, arms round each other and not a care in the world. That was the impression given. Of course the reality of their thoughts at this time were that Rose and Mickey had just become engaged and the Doctor and Martha were swamped with jealousy and depression. The Doctor had rejected Rose and she was still undoubtedly in love with him. Only Donna's face truly matched what she had been feeling inside.

"Martha, I—thank you." That was all he could say to her and she understood, even though the present had not been one that so much thought had gone into and it had plainly been due to the fact that she couldn't think of anything else to give him, he was still overwhelmed with gratitude towards her. Not just for the gift, but remembering what he and Martha had gone through at the time of this picture, and gone through it all together, with each other's shoulder to cry on, he just wanted to thank her for being there for him. His best friend.

He hurried round and hugged Martha from behind, so as not to squash her bump, Martha lay her head against his arm as if to say 'you're welcome'.

"Now me," said Rose uncertainly. "I doubt I'll get a response that positive but here's hoping." The Doctor looked at her questioningly. "You just wait," she said, getting up to retrieve a rather clumsily wrapped package. She chucked it into the Doctor's lap and went to sit back down, extremely anxious about his and the others' reaction. It was very light and much easier to unwrap than the previous two. The Doctor managed to get it open quickly though when he did his jaw dropped and his eyebrows practically disappeared into his hair.

"Happy birthday?" said Rose tentatively, the Doctor failed to stifle a laugh.

"Rose Tyler, only you," said the Doctor, shaking his head, unable to shake the grin off face.

"You like?" asked Rose, edging closer to him, teasingly.

"What have you given him?" demanded Donna. The Doctor held Rose's gift to him and her and Martha were gobsmacked, for he held up a pair of new, shiny, silver handcuffs.

"You are kidding!" said Martha, "Rose Tyler, you minx." Rose winked at her.

"Can I ask what you were planning to do with these?" asked the Doctor, still laughing. Rose raised her eyebrows.

"I'll show you later," she said, licking her teeth.

"Right, alcohol," said Donna, breaking the awkward tension abruptly. She jumped to her feet and headed over to the console, looking expectantly at the Doctor to get it started.

"I suppose I can't escape from this, can I?" Donna shook her head at him as he put down his new handcuffs and rushed round the console, pulling levers and pressing buttons.

"Where and when?" asked the Doctor.

"Present day, several light-years that way, happy hour," replied Donna as though she knew exactly where she was going.

The Doctor allowed the TARDIS to take them to the nearest bar to where Donna had directed and when they landed, Donna was the first out of the doors, Rose following soon after.

"So are you and Rose…?" Martha wondered aloud to the Doctor.

"I would expect so, from the greeting she gave me," he said, forcing back a smile.

"And the handcuffs?" she teased.

"I assure you that I didn't expect that gift, but that doesn't mean I'm not grateful." He lifted his eyebrows suggestively and grinned.

When they were out of the TARDIS, Donna was already at the bar talking avidly with the barman, well, alien.

"So what planet's this Doctor?" called Rose from a table in the corner.

"No idea," he said cheerfully, heading over to join her. "I'll just enjoy my birthday without knowing anything about where I am."

"More fun that way," said Martha, sitting down opposite the Doctor, just in time for Donna to get back with a tray of four tall drinks.

"Martha, non-alcoholic," she said, handing Martha a bright orange concoction. "Rose, almost pure alcohol, you need it love." She handed Rose a fluorescent pink beverage and the Doctor a clear blue one. "Doctor." The last one was such a bright green that it could only have been found in the Emerald City, and inevitably, this one was Donna's.

"Are these even safe?" asked Martha cautiously, eyeing the vivid coloured drinks.

"Well, no doubt they'll have some alien ingredients, but the nice guy up there said they are perfectly safe and have no permanent consequences," said Donna and took a massive gulp of her drink. "Wow."

"Happy birthday Doctor," said Rose, raising her glass, the others joined the toast but taking considerably smaller sips than Donna. She was right, they were strangely delicious.

* * *

They had been at the bar for about three hours when Martha, the only one who had not finished one glass, decided it was time to go back. Donna had had about fifteen of the same drink and had been absent-mindedly poking the Doctor's face for several minutes until Martha finally pulled her away from him.

"Come on guys," said Martha, holding her hand out to a very emotional Rose, who had been in tears almost all night.

"I love you Martha," she said barely audibly.

"I know Rose, it'll all be okay." That was all she seemed to have said to Rose tonight.

She led them back to the TARDIS after dragging the Doctor away from the cactus in the corner, which he had named Clive. After putting Donna in bed and giving her a bucket to put next to her head and watching Rose and the Doctor vacate behind the curtain, Martha lay herself down on the bed next to Donna, really glad that her own insides were not drowning in alcohol and hoping that the Doctor and Rose would at least be quiet in whatever they were planning to do tonight. Then remembering how wasted they were, all hope of silence was lost and Martha hoped to fall asleep beforehand.

* * *

Rose regretted drinking so much as soon as she woke up. She felt extremely bloated. She yelped in surprise as soon as she opened her eyes for her stomach was three times its usual size. She moved her hands automatically to the bump, hoping it was a hallucination of some kind. Instead she got an even bigger surprise for her hands weren't they're normal colour, but much, much darker. She peeked at her stomach which was a similar colour to that of her hands.

_What was in that drink?_ She thought to herself as she heaved her now heavy body up to find a mirror, to examine the damage. She rubbed her bulge and felt something hit the inside. She was pregnant. For a few minutes she stood with both hands on her stomach, feeling the baby kick until she remembered that she shouldn't be pregnant and ought to see what else there was different.

She got to the mirror and closed her eyes to prepare herself. Taking deep breaths she slowly opened her eyes and gasped loudly. Not only had she changed colour, but she had changed body. She leaned towards the mirror and Martha in the reflection did the same thing.

"Oh my—," she began and stopped, she had Martha's voice as well. She inhaled and exhaled slowly to try and get her head around what may have happened. She became aware that Martha's mind was no longer in her body and Rose's body was either inert or occupied by somebody else's mind, she shuddered at the thought.

Trying to take all of this in, Rose headed back to find the others, hoping someone would wake up and tell her what was going on. She almost regretted joining them when she looked over at the bed. Considering everything that she had seen from other planets, to see herself and the Doctor curled up together under the duvet was just about enough. She closed her eyes to block the image and also to concentrate. At first, she was disturbed by the idea of hers and the Doctor's body being inhabited by someone else's minds and…doing that. But then she remembered, vaguely, what had happened before she fell asleep, assuring herself that she had been in her own body when that had happened.

Not really knowing what to expect from the others' reactions, Rose sat down waiting for someone else to wake up. The longer she was spending in Martha, the more she was getting used to it, the idea of being in someone else was stranger than the actual experience, but then again, Martha was quite similar in shape than Rose, just a bit more stumpy; it would be a relief to have her own body back.

Rose heard somebody stirring and looked up to see that it was herself, or rather someone else in her. Rose watched herself grow more and more confused, whoever it was grabbed a strand of her hair and frowned. She seemed to notice something else was different as her eyes widened in horror.

"What the—," she began but stopped suddenly at the unfamiliar voice. Suddenly, before Rose could stop her, she lifted up the covers and examined Rose's body.

"I'm Rose?" she exclaimed.

"Who are you really?" asked the Rose who looked like Martha.

"The Doctor." Rose placed her head in Martha's hands and closed her eyes.

"Okay…Doctor," said Rose finally. She looked up to see that he had left the duvet still revealing most of Rose's body and cringed. "First, please cover me—well, you—up." The Doctor obeyed, but not before taking one more look. "Ugh, that's so wrong. Right, I'm Rose, but in Martha's body and you're the Doctor, in mine. This is so weird."

"So it must have been something in those drinks last night," said the Doctor, automatically moving Rose's fingers to her hair, but letting the bed cover fall once more. Rose looked at herself pointedly and he held it up again. His expression quickly grew shocked. "Wait a second, why am I in bed with—" He looked behind him and jumped up immediately, "—myself?!" Rose groaned and grabbed the blanket that Martha had been sleeping under and wrapped it around the Doctor, trying not to look.

"Calm down, and keep that around you for goodness' sake. I think that last night it was me and you who ended up in bed together." She realised how strange it must have looked that Martha was saying that to Rose. "Well, when I say we, I mean Rose and the Doctor, I don't think you were that drunk to sleep with Martha or Donna while you were in woman form."

"Being Rose is strange," said the Doctor simply, his face becoming more incredulous as he tried to get used to the female anatomy.

"Who do you think Martha is in?" asked Rose. "She might take this a little better than Donna."

"Well," said the Doctor, "if we've all changed places then Martha is in Donna and Donna...is in me." He cringed at the thought. Just as Rose was about to poke Martha awake, the Doctor interrupted her. "Rose, maybe I should wake her, seeing a half-naked Rose might be less scary than...well herself."

"That's true," said Rose, stepping back and allowing the Doctor to cautiously bend down and poking Donna's sleeping figure awake. She stirred and rubbed her eyes open. Rose and the Doctor stepped back in anticipation. They watched as what must have been Martha took a strand of Donna's ginger hair between her fingers and they saw the shock form across her face as she saw the colour of her hair and fingers.

"What the—woah, why do I have Donna's voice?" She looked up at the other two and her jaw dropped when she saw Rose, well, she would have seen Martha, herself.

"Martha, just wait one moment and I'll explain," said the Doctor calmly, keeping a firm hold on the blanket. "Something was in those drinks last night that made us all change bodies, Rose has inhabited your body and you have taken Donna's. We'll wait until Donna, in me—" He winced again, "—wakes up and then see if we can find out exactly what happened here, and if we can reverse it somehow."

"That's easier said then done," said Martha. "I don't think Donna will take it quite as well as I have done, I mean, I've already seen a clone of myself, but Donna is in the Doctor's body."

"Thanks for reminding me, Martha," said the Doctor, cringing.

"This has got to be the weirdest thing that's ever happened to us," said Martha, ignoring the Doctor and rubbing her throat, apparently still unaccustomed to her new voice.

"So who's going to wake up Donna?" asked Rose tentatively.

"I think you've just volunteered yourself," said the Doctor, grinning. Rose rolled her—well, Martha's—eyes and crept over to the Doctor's sleeping figure. Frowning at how strange this was, Rose stretched her finger out and prodded Donna gently on the shoulder, then recoiling slightly as though she was going to explode.

"Erm, Donna?" whispered Rose, she watched carefully as the Doctor's body and Donna's mind woke up together. No sooner had the Doctor's eyes opened that they widened in horror. Rose cut in quickly before Donna could speak. "Donna, listen to me a second."

"I'm not even Donna though!" she shouted back and gasped at the sound of the Doctor's voice.

"No, no, no you are!" said Rose, waving her hands to calm Donna down. "There was something in the drinks last night that caused us all to swap minds and bodies, I'm actually Rose, inside Martha, the Doctor is inside me." She couldn't help but flinch when she said that. "Martha is inside your body, and you are in the Doctor, we're going to try and work out how to get back to our normal selves once we're all up and dressed." She looked pointedly at the Doctor.

"Oh my God, this is horrible! I'm a man! The Doctor! God, you're skinnier than you look."

"Okay," said the Doctor quickly, reverting the attention away from his body. "We need to all get dressed."

"Please, leaving as much dignity for each other as possible," said Rose, staring pointedly at the Doctor. "I'm going to have to help the Doctor get dressed, because I doubt he's experienced enough to put a bra on." The Doctor, looked at her, smiling slightly, Rose cringed. "We don't speak about that night to other people and you can give me that look when you turn back into a man, and not when you look like me."

"This is gonna be awful," mumbled Donna, clutching the duvet to the Doctor's chest.

"Please let's not talk about this after we change back," sniffed the Doctor.

"My pleasure," said Rose.

* * *

"All there is to do left is wait until you go back to normal," said the bartender silkily, looking somewhat amused by the turn of events. The Doctor, having dressed Rose in her tightest and lowest cut top he could find, was not as impressed.

"And how long could that be? Not like I'm complaining at the moment but being trapped inside this body is liable to do strange things to my mind."

On the contrary, things were already happening inside the Doctor's mind. There was something familiar about Rose's body, though not in the way that he knew before. Once he'd got past the peculiarity of being inside Rose, he started to notice similarities in the way that Rose's brain worked which corresponded unnaturally with his own. He found himself pondering on this as he led the others to the planet where this shenanigan had begun and noticed how Rose blended so well with the TARDIS controls. But this could well have been purely due to the fact that the Doctor, a Timelord, was inhabiting her mind, but he couldn't help thinking...he was sure he'd read it somewhere.

"I tell you, these changes aren't permanent, from my knowledge of this, you should be good in a few hours."

Four pairs of eyes rolled and they all groaned. Only three or four more hours.

"Right," said Martha finally, as the Doctor was still lost in thought. "Let's just go back to the TARDIS and sit there without seeing anyone until we're back to normal." The others nodded in agreement and trudged back to the TARDIS, as though slowing their walk would decrease the time they had inside each other.

* * *

The ambience inside the TARDIS was incredibly subdued. Instead of shedding light on the matter and talking to each other, the four of them just sat in separate corners, dwelling as much as possible on the fact that they would be back to normal and trying not to listen to Donna, who had fallen asleep and was mumbling to the Matt of her dreams.

"Rose," said the Doctor suddenly, as he had just heard the words 'strawberry jam' and convinced himself without difficulty that he didn't want to hear anymore. "You've not been...erm, I dunno, feeling strange for a while have you?"

Rose thought for a moment, trying to remember.

"I dunno, maybe, actually, yeah, I have, it was for ages, I dunno, I never thought anything of it, why?"

"Just a theory," replied the Doctor, frowning. "It doesn't matter, I need to think on it more."

"Okay, oh, thank God, Donna's shut up," said Rose. She tried to stand up but swayed on the spot as a bizarre sensation formed inside her head, as though a gust of wind had blown into her brain, giving her a rush to the head.

"Did anyone else feel that?" asked Martha, clearly having had the same feeling, the Doctor nodded but Rose was frowning, she was seeing things in her mind that she hadn't seen before: a hospital on the moon, Shakespeare, the Face of Boe, dying, the Doctor cradling a man whom Rose had never seen before. It was when Rose saw a particularly clear vision of Martha and Mickey that she figured what was happening.

"Woah, I think we're changing back!" she shouted. Martha didn't seem to be blinking as she gazed at the floor, horrified at the pictures of Donna and Matt that were creeping their way back into Donna's head.

The transformation seemed to happen very quickly, but very suddenly. One minute, they were sitting, dumbfounded on the TARDIS floor, watching, or trying not to watch the images steal back into their owner's minds, then four heads lurched forwards and Donna—now the Doctor—fell off the bed.

The four of them sat in silence for a good while, over the moon that they were back to normal, but unable to speak their joy aloud.

"Well," said the Doctor finally, rubbing his head. "That was...different."

The others couldn't help themselves; they burst into a fit of laughter.

"Oooh, text," said Donna, gasping for breath. She reached for her phone. "Mickey and Matt are coming to find us."

Mickey's name reminded Rose of something she'd seen in Martha's mind.

"Martha, can I have a word?" Martha nodded curiously and followed Rose to the other side of the console, out of earshot of the Doctor and Donna.

"What's up?" asked Martha.

"Umm, when we were changing back, I saw something, it was you and...Mickey." Martha inhaled deeply and looked at the floor.

"Your guess is probably right," said Martha, still not taking her eyes off the floor that she could see past her bulging stomach. Misinterpreting Rose's silence as anger, she continued to not look at her.

"Martha," said Rose firmly, Martha looked up and was shocked to see that Rose was grinning widely at her. Before Martha could say anything, Rose had flung her arms around Martha's neck and was hugging her tightly.

"Woah," gasped Martha, struggling to breathe. "How are you so happy about this?" Rose rolled her eyes.

"C'mon Martha, it's you and Mickey, the two of you are meant to be, I'm only a little annoyed that you didn't tell me you two were together."

"Well we knew you'd be the first to figure it out," said Martha smiling.

"Umm," pondered Rose, "can I tell the others?"

Martha laughed. "Yeah I suppose, it'll make things much easier." Rose hugged her again in gratitude.

"Doctor," asked Donna quietly. "When your mind was replacing mine in your head, did you see…?" She trailed off; Rose and Martha were heading back towards them. The Doctor understood and nodded seriously at her, his face full of concern.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. Donna sniffed and nodded once.

"Guys, guess what," said Rose sitting back down next to the Doctor and Donna. "Mickey and Martha are a thing."

"No way!" shouted Donna. The Doctor's jaw dropped and he beamed at Martha.

"This is brilliant!" he said excitedly. "You two have to get married now."

"Okay, calm down," laughed Martha. "He's not even divorced yet, and I'm not getting into a wedding dress until all the excess pregnancy flab comes off."

They sat laughing, joking and interrogating Martha for about an hour and a half before Mickey came through the TARDIS doors, closely followed by a cautious Matt, who nervously stepped into the Police Box that was bigger on the inside. He took a number of deep breaths before going over to greet Donna.

"Hey everyone," said Mickey uncertainly. The others nodded and smiled at him; Martha on the other hand stood up and strode purposefully over to him. To no one's shock but Matt's, she locked her arms around Mickey's neck and kissed him softly. Having been taken off guard, Mickey responded with much more enthusiasm. It wasn't until Donna had coughed loudly and Martha had broken off that Mickey realised.

"I take it by the lack of gasps, that they all know?" Martha nodded, glowing with happiness that lit up her eyes.

"Are they…?" murmured Matt, Donna leant towards him to explain everything into his ear.

"Good," said Mickey. "That means I can carry on." He placed his hands on Martha's waist and kissed her again. Rose looked at the Doctor meaningfully.

"If you insist," he breathed and placed his lips below Rose's ear.

A new cough interrupted them all this time; it was coming from just inside the doors. They all looked towards the new arrival and the Doctor and Rose stared, gobsmacked into the face of Madame De Pompadour.

* * *

**:O What's she doing there!? Hold tight and you'll find out. I promise, before Christmas. :P**

**I must take the time to do a little celebratory dance that Mickey and Martha are finally out in the open. From now on, the adventures will be The Doctor, Rose, Martha, Donna, Mickey AND Matt. Because I love Matt, and so does Donna. So sssh, I want no bad words against him. :P  
**

**Now, it does rather upset me that I only have (well, had) two reviews per chapter (except Nikita, but you've already read it, it doesn't count :P) so, if you do read it, at least just tap me a little review telling me what you thought, in as many/little words as you would like.**

**You don't understand how much it will make my day. Though I may not deserve it by keeping you waiting so long. :S  
**


	12. The Girl In The TARDIS

**Sorry it's been so long again, but I've been incredibly busy with drama-related stuff, which isn't going great for me at the moment, so a review would cheer me up hugely! :D**

**Thanks to the recent (ish) reviewers of previous chapters: Dreamcatcher49, Namesake, Ainsaboo, rara saryn and of course Rose Tyler Smith. :D  
**

**Enjoy. (:**

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* * *

**_Chapter 11: The Girl In The TARDIS_

"What?" spluttered the Doctor, "Reinette Poisson? No, no, you're dead."

"I am?" replied Reinette, looking mildly surprised. "There's no point in telling me that Doctor, I already know what my future has in store for me. For now, I want to see the stars, like you promised."

Almost everyone was staring at the Doctor, the majority of people wanting to be given an explanation. Rose however was glaring at Reinette with a look of deepest loathing.

"Everyone, Reinette Poisson slash Madame De Pompadour, Reinette, everyone," said the Doctor quickly, seeing the look on everyone's face. "What on earth are you doing here?"

"What do you think?" said Reinette quietly moving gracefully over to the Doctor while everyone else dodged out of the way of her period-style dress. The Doctor frowned at her.

"Not you too, why am I suddenly so attractive to people?" Rose, Martha and Donna all raised their eyebrows at him.

"You weren't this reluctant last time," said Reinette.

"What?" exclaimed Martha, Donna and Matt.

"That was ages ago Reinette, I only have space in my life for one woman, and that space is taken," he said, placing his hand on the small of Rose's back.

"Is that so?" Reinette eyed Martha and Donna.

"Oh come on," said the Doctor exasperatedly, "can't you just leave?"

"I don't think I'm ready to leave just yet Doctor, I've got a letter to deliver to you child." She held out an envelope to Rose.

"Don't call me child," snapped Rose, snatching the envelope from her.

"Right, you've delivered the letter, now you can go," said the Doctor firmly.

"I've told you I'm not leaving," she replied.

"Oh my God..." muttered Rose under her breath, her eyes were wide as she stared at the letter in her shaking hands.

"What is it?" demanded the Doctor sharply. Rose, however, handed the letter to Mickey, he read it quickly and his hand clenched into a fist and crumpled half the paper.

"What does it say?" asked Martha quietly. Mickey seemed unable to speak, his jaw was locked and he was shaking with anger. Rose met his eyes and walked swiftly from the room with her head down. The Doctor took the letter from Mickey's hands and read it aloud.

"_Dear Miss Tyler, I am writing to inform you that Mr J. Stone has been released from HM Prison, Pentonville for good behaviour. We are well aware of the charges for which he was condemned for in the first place and we wish to notify you that if he is convicted with the same charge again he will be given a much more severe sentence. We cannot be held responsible for any distress this may cause you as we have little reason to believe that Mr Stone will be of any danger to you. Any queries you may have should be sent to the address above. Yours faithfully, F. Scott._"

The Doctor's voice trailed away towards the end of the letter. Mickey still looked furious, Donna and Matt both looked confused, the Doctor and Martha, who had both seen Rose's memories of this man, looked anxious. Reinette on the other hand, looked satisfied.

"I just can't believe they've let him out," growled Mickey, his hands balled up into fists.

"Who is he?" asked Donna and Matt simultaneously.

"Rose's ex," said Mickey bitterly, "but he abused her countless number of times, and we finally got him in prison, but the evil git's gone and convinced the guards that he's good enough to be released."

"Mickey, go and find her, you understand this better than I can hope to," said the Doctor, running his hands through his hair.

"Poor child," said Reinette, pouting slightly.

"Don't call her that and get out," snarled the Doctor.

"I've made myself clear, I'm not leaving."

"Why are you so annoying now? You used to be a pleasant person," said the Doctor, frowning. "And the letter you sent me, that's in your future, you were nice in that note."

"Well, seeing as the letter is in your past but my future, clearly I will have to be nice for it to make sense when you receive it; I'll keep that in mind."

"Clearly I lack certain qualities that help you understand time," muttered Donna thoughtfully. Moments later, Mickey rushed back into the room.

"Rose is gone," he said breathlessly. The Doctor ran out of the room, returning soon after without Rose, with a new expression of worry in his eyes.

"What's your problem?" said Martha sharply, glaring at Reinette who seemed to be extremely pleased about something.

"She's good," said Reinette, more to herself than to the others.

"What do you mean, who?" demanded the Doctor.

"Who do you think Doctor?"

"Marietta," spat the Doctor, in the sour tone he used the first time that the others had heard him speak her name.

"Of course," replied Reinette. The Doctor groaned.

"And she's taken you on as well," he said.

"Well, I think she's got the right idea," said Reinette quietly, placing her hand on his cheek.

"No, no, you can't over power me; I'm not having this from you." The Doctor leaned away from her.

"Allow me Doctor," said Mickey, he grabbed Reinette around the middle, which must have been a task considering the size of her dress and lifted her up and over to the door while Martha watched, fondly. Although, when Mickey reached the doors and made to push it open, they wouldn't budge.

"What's up?" asked the Doctor.

"Door won't budge mate, try the sonic."

The Doctor tried, but it made no difference, the doors remained locked.

"If you would kindly put me down," said Reinette pointedly. Mickey let her go and she hastened to smooth her dress out, before heading in the opposite direction.

"Hey, hey, where are you going?" called the Doctor.

"I hardly think that is any of your business," she replied.

"Oh I think it is, it's my ship after all. I bet you're planning to go and rejoin your mistress aren't you?"

"I—I—,"

"Exactly," said the Doctor, "if we can't go anywhere, neither will you." Matt unlocked his arm from around Donna's waist and picked something up from the floor behind them.

"Madame De Pompadour," he said officially, making his way behind Reinette and bringing one of her hands behind her back, "I hereby arrest you on charges of Doctor abuse, you will remain within this spaceship, tied to that post over there until we see fit to release you." He brought her hand round, which was now cuffed, dragged her to the side of the TARDIS and attached the other handcuff to the bed post, where she was forced to sit and lean against. The others all applauded.

"Excellent Matt. You." The Doctor pointed at Reinette. "Where's Rose been taken?"

"I don't know Doctor," said Reinette looking extremely disgruntled, "wherever Marietta feels is a good enough place to hide her."

"Right, Donna, text Rose asking if she's okay, Reinette, be quiet, I need to do some figuring out and then I'm going to see if I can trace Rose, depending on the outcome of my figuring out."

"Rose is okay," shouted Donna to the corner where the Doctor was sitting immersed deeply in a book. He breathed a sigh of relief at Donna's words and carried on reading, though now with a hint of a smile on his face. Donna threw her phone down onto her jacket, followed Matt to the bed behind the curtains and curled up next to him. Matt, now feeling much more secure about the TARDIS and heartened by his confrontation of Reinette, didn't fall asleep, but smiled to himself with his head buried in Donna's hair.

Mickey and Martha, smirking slightly to themselves about Madame De Pompadour's sulking, vacated to a corner away from the others. Mickey grabbed a blanket from the floor and wrapped it over his and Martha's shoulders. He leaned against the wall with Martha's head on his shoulder while he gently caressed her stomach with his thumb.

"I feel like we're back to the old 'defending the universe' kind of thing," said Mickey quietly to Martha.

"Hardly the universe though," laughed Martha. "Just stuck inside the TARDIS waiting for something and we don't even know what that is."

"Kind of thrilling isn't it," replied Mickey sarcastically. "Still, I much prefer this kind of adventure."

"Why?"

"I just get to sit with you and our baby, much better than monsters if you ask me."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right. Do you have any name ideas?"

"I dunno, not really, I feel like the baby is too good for any of the names I've thought of." Martha laughed.

"Well, do you have any family names good enough?"

"Umm, actually, my favourite uncle was called Zach, I quite like that for a boy."

"Zach..." pondered Martha, she rubbed her bump. "Yeah, I like that. Now a girl's name."

They were saved the trouble of thinking about names when Matt called over.

"Mickey, show me round this place, I need a word with you." Mickey, though reluctantly, removed his arm from round Martha. He kissed her forehead then her stomach and followed Matt from the room.

"What's the matter?" asked Mickey when they were in the TARDIS living room and out of earshot from the others.

"I'm a bit worried to be honest, I was speaking to Donna, she's been quite ill and she's three days late, she blames it on the drinks but I'm pretty sure she's pregnant, and I have no idea what to do."

Mickey nodded slowly, taking in Matt's words.

"To be honest, it sounds like she is. From what I've heard, you two do it a lot." Matt suddenly flushed and stared at the floor. It was an odd sight, especially since the blood in his face rushed passed his practically invisible hairline and flooded the whole of his head. He took the time to compose himself and nodded sheepishly.

"Come on Matt," said Mickey jokingly, "be a man, you should be bragging about the number of times you've done it, don't be all embarrassed about it! Don't tell Martha, but it's annoying that because she got so big and pregnant before we got together, I haven't slept with her more than the first time. You should keep at it while it lasts mate, if she is pregnant; you've only got a limited amount of time before she's too big and cranky to want you near her again."

"So what am I going to do if she is? I've only been seeing her for seven months."

"Seven months!?" said Mickey in amazement. "Well that's longer than I've been with Martha, and longer than the Doctor and Rose." Mickey almost thought he saw Matt frown, but a second later he looked perfectly normal again, so he thought he must have imagined it. "You've got it better than I have. I've been with Martha for only a couple of days, and we're all set for it, I'd happily marry her tonight if I knew she'd agree with it. I mean, where are you and Donna?"

"That's the thing; I don't know where she is," said Matt, running his hands over his head. "She's not one to show her feelings much, and I feel like I hardly know anything about her, yet she knows everything about me."

"Well," said Mickey quietly, sitting on the sofa and gesturing for Matt to sit beside him, "where are you?"

"You have no idea," said Matt, smiling slightly. "I'm completely in love with that woman. She's the most amazing and important person in my life. She's just…" he trailed off, lost for words. Mickey nodded.

"Yeah, you say I have no idea but to be honest, you've just summed up the way I feel about Martha, you don't even have to finish the sentence, it just shows that words can't describe everything."

Matt pondered the thought for a moment.

"Thanks Mickey, you're alright," he eventually said, smiling.

"No worries mate; we should hang out more, let's stay here and watch the TV, eh? I bet no one ever watches it." Matt nodded and pulled the reclining lever on the side of the sofa.

"I'm surprised to be honest, I would have thought someone'd want to watch this thing, it's huge." True enough, the Doctor's television stretched to a substantial size of around sixty inches.

"Doctor?" Martha called across the TARDIS. She'd been watching him absentmindedly for a good minute or two until she realised that he had been staring at the same spot in his book with a look of complete shock, and Martha had counted his total number of blinks during that period, only adding up to twice. However, he looked up when she called him, his eyes wide and almost fearful. Martha got to her feet at once and hurried over to him.

He wasn't looking at the pages of the book, but a piece of paper lying crumpled on top of the pages, Martha squinted at it over the Doctor's shoulder, the writing was faded but it looked like a letter.

"I found it in the book," said the Doctor simply. "Read it." Martha carefully picked it up and read it silently. The writing was very similar to that of the Doctor's.

_My Doctor,_

_I'm alive. I can't say much on the situation in case this falls into the wrong hands, I think you know who I mean. You have no idea how much I miss you, I considered not writing this at all, I thought it could be kinder to let you believe I was dead, so you would not have to live with the fact that I was okay but not with you. I chose to plant this in the book that I knew you would someday pick up again. I will explain everything when I see you again. I pray that it won't be too long before that day comes. I love you. F._

"Doctor, is this...?" asked Martha timidly.

"My sister, yeah," replied the Doctor, his voice shaking.

"Well isn't that good? She's alive."

"That's the thing, she can't be, she just can't, I saw her die, she can't be alive, it's impossible."

"So you think this letter is fake?" asked Martha, frowning.

"No, that's definitely her writing." The Doctor rubbed his face vigorously. "But she must have written it before, I don't know, in case she somehow survived. But she's dead."

How the Doctor's voice managed to stay steady when he said this, Martha didn't know. She stayed quiet though in case further interrogation may be too much.

"Ugh, Donna's rambling again," groaned the Doctor. "I think I might just go and join Mickey and Matt, rather than listen to Donna. You don't mind do you?"

"No of course not," said Martha shaking her head. "You go and have some man time with the others, I might try and get some sleep myself to be honest, that's what Fishface is doing." Reinette was leaning against the bed post with her mouth partly open, snoring quietly.

"Strawberry jam...Doctor...Doctor?" The Doctor turned around at Donna's voice, which suddenly became urgent. "Doctor?" Donna practically shouted it, though she was clearly still fast asleep.

"Must be in her dream," said the Doctor indifferently, turning to walk away again.

"Doctor, it's Fran."

* * *

**Oooooh! Lol, I'll try and update before Christmas.. but don't hold your breath.**

**In the meantime, I mentioned a review up at the top.. I'm still hoping for a couple of those. :D  
**


	13. Noble

**Who was I kidding when I said I'd get this up by Christmas. Haha, well, better late than never. Anyways, now that my January exam and Drama coursework is out of the way, I should have a little more time to write. Weeell.. I do have a college performance in March, and English coursework on the way, so seriously, don't hold me to that.  
Just a quick little note: "End of Time Part 2 was AWESOME! I love Wilf, and David's acting was just phenomenal. Also: MICKEY AND MARTHA ARE MARRIED!"**

**Anyway, lots happens in this chapter, so you may want to refresh your memory by skimming the last couple of chapters.**

**This is probably the most 'graphic' of Marietta's encounters with the Doctor so far, but it's really not that bad. Also, this has the most Donna and Matt in it; I love them! 3**

**Enjoy!**

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* * *

  
**_Chapter 12: Noble_  
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**

The Doctor spun round at Donna's words, or what sounded like Donna's words.

"Donna?" he said tentatively. Donna's eyes were still closed, but when she spoke, it was clear, as though she were merely resting her eyes.

"Doctor, I promise you it's me, Fran, I can't hear you, but I hope, that if I've gone through enough of your old science books that I've done this right and you can hear me." The Doctor was staring transfixed at Donna, speaking his sister's words, unable to speak himself.

"I don't know if you found my letter," continued Donna, "but it is all true, I am still alive and everything I could want to tell you is written in there. If you haven't found it, it's in the book you had about humans. I remember when you were reading that book, life was a simpler time. Now however, I am forced to hide from that person whose name I refuse to poison my tongue with, I surely hope that she isn't bothering you anymore. I feel I must tell you this one thing, even though all my instincts are telling me not to, but our—." Donna suddenly snored extremely loudly and her eyes flew open.

"That was a weird dream," she said, completely Donna now. "Where's Matt?"

"Having manly time with Mickey," said Martha, she turned to the Doctor. "Are you okay?"

"I don't know," he replied truthfully, "how can that have been true, really?"

"Doctor, is there not the slightest chance that she's still alive?"

"What's going on?" demanded Donna.

"The Doctor's sister just spoke to him through you while you were asleep," said Martha quickly, still looking at the Doctor.

"But," began Donna quietly, "I saw inside the Doctor's mind when his thoughts were replacing mine that time, and I saw what he saw, I saw her, she's dead isn't she?"

"That's the thing Donna," said the Doctor, "that's exactly it, I saw her die, there's no way she can be alive, and I can't even begin to hope."

"Why, what happened?" questioned Martha cautiously.

"My mother and father were the king and queen of Gallifrey in their time," began the Doctor, "so naturally, they had enemies. One man who completely disagreed with every single one of my father's policies was Hugo Blackwood. Well, that was his cover name, his human name as it were, like mine is John Smith. Marietta isn't Marietta's real name, neither is Fran, they're just names that they fashioned. Anyway, the fact is, is that Hugo and my father were the greatest of friends in their time, that is, until my father became king. Jealousy of the power that royalty held I think. His whole family was one for power. Incidentally, he was the father of Marie and Marietta Blackwood.

"It pretty much happened in one night. I was eating with my family and the palace was broken into, even though the security had been tightened considerably the previous fortnight. A dozen or so guards, they could have even been our own guards, took us away and locked us in a cellar in Marietta's father's house.

"We stayed there for a month or so, but that wasn't good enough for Marietta and her father. As far as I know, they were the two who planned it, I don't think her sister would have been trusted to be a part of this. Marietta and Hugo released us momentarily, but not for freedom, for more agony, they arranged for my mother to be killed. In front of us."

Tears were falling silently down Donna's face and the Doctor's voice shook slightly, causing him to stop. Martha was completely speechless and her face showed no sign of the emotion she was keeping inside her, the rippling anger at Marietta and her father, the huge amount of pity she was feeling towards the Doctor. And the incomprehensible sadness, that this had happened.

"Soon after that," continued the Doctor, his voice a little weaker, "my father was taken away and we were told that he had joined our mother. We were ordered to act as mere slaves for Marietta's family who had taken over Gallifrey themselves. We continued to grow weaker and weaker, until it all became too much for Fran, she died of what must have been exhaustion, starvation and depression all at once. After that, they let me go."

"Just like that?" asked Donna, astounded.

"Yes, I think all they really wanted me for was a spectator for my family's deaths. That and Marietta's form of entertainment, but that wore me out more than all the other work put together, I think she noticed. I stopped trying to resist and just let it happen, I didn't have the energy to carry on, she eventually grew tired of my lack of enthusiasm."

"I'm sorry," whispered Donna, at a lack of comforting things to say. Martha simply stared at the floor, lost for words.

"Yeah, well," said the Doctor, with difficulty, it sounded as though there was something stuck in his throat. He walked swiftly away from them and sat back down in the corner where his book was. He took the letter from the floor, folded it neatly and tucked it in the inside pocket of his jacket, next to one of his hearts.

* * *

It had to be said by everyone on board the impossibly spacious blue box, that the Doctor's preparation skills were definitely cause for praise. Considering the size of the TARDIS, the passengers had never envisioned what would happen, had they been stuck inside for several weeks. However, they found themselves better equipped than if they'd been in their own homes.

"I'd been locked inside for about a month before, after that, I wanted to make sure I was better prepared in case it happened again," said the Doctor proudly.

"Well you certainly delivered," said Donna, coming back into the main room with her arms laden with crisps and drinks for everyone. Even though this room was easily the least comfortable, this was where they all congregated to eat and talk. Partly because any sign of being able to get out would be most noticeable in the room nearest the front doors.

Mickey grabbed two drinks and two packets of crisps and hastily headed over to the bed that Martha was now occupying as much as Donna used to.

"Thanks," she muttered, adjusting herself to a more comfortable sitting position, without touching the food that Mickey placed next to her.

"Martha you've got to eat," said Mickey cautiously, half expecting what he would hear.

"I'm not eating junk that's just going to come back up again," she snapped. Mickey breathed deeply.

"Okay, what do you want to eat?" he asked again, with forced patience.

"I don't know, something with peanut butter in it," she replied, a lot less harshly. Mickey, thoroughly relieved that she hadn't shouted this time, got to his feet and headed to the kitchen. "I love you," Martha shouted after him.

"Likewise babe," he called back before disappearing out of sight.

Everyone had been careful about what they said in previous weeks. It was the second week in October and Martha was becoming more restless as her due date drew nearer, overcome with worry of the idea of not being inside a safe, clean hospital when she gave birth. Even though the majority of the attention was given to Martha and her baby, she was not the only one who was worthy of it. She was the only one who wanted it though. Donna, about whom Matt's worries had been correct, was happy to look after Martha and endure her own morning sickness without complaint and simply smiled to herself when the others commented on her growing bump.

The Doctor had been doing all he could to manipulate the TARDIS controls to take them back to Earth to no avail. In the meantime, they had received regular texts from Rose assuring them that she was still alive but never said anything else which didn't much lighten the burden that Rose, though alive, may not be entirely okay.

It felt like it had done those few years ago over these past three months. Rose was trapped, lost, somewhere and the Doctor had no way to get her back. He felt strangely lonely now that Rose wasn't here. Mickey and Martha had the anticipation of their unborn child to look forward to and Mickey rarely let Martha out of his sight. Donna and Matt were seldom seen in the company of others and even when they were in public view, they would take to performing a much milder version of what would happen at other times. And the only other person here was Madame De Pompadour, who, even if he wasn't deeply in love with Rose, he would never even dream of relinquishing his loneliness with.

Instead, he filled his thoughts with the memory of the last time he and Rose were completely alone together. He could almost feel her hands on his back, her lips on his neck, whispering sweet nothings into his ear.

He was jolted rather harshly back into reality by Martha's yell.

"What?!" he yelled, having his own question answered almost immediately by the small damp patch on the duvet, Martha's hands on either side of her stomach, her mouth open and her eyes wide in shock, and Mickey hurling himself back into the room and grabbing Martha from the bed.

"Doctor," shouted Mickey over Martha's terrified yells, "try and get this TARDIS moving and to a hospital, I'll stick her on the makeshift bed in the meantime and we'll have to put your baby delivery skills to the test."

"My what?" exclaimed the Doctor indignantly, hurriedly pushing every button within his reach and pulling every lever. Nevertheless the TARDIS remained completely still, even when the Doctor swung his foot at the console, which not only caused the Doctor a certain amount of pain in his left big toe, but it greatly amused Reinette, who was no longer tied to the bed, but forced to stay in sight of at least one person.

"Stay there," the Doctor called to her as her hurled himself from the room.

Due to the TARDIS' refusal to move, Martha was persuaded to stay on the improvised hospital bed that Matt and Donna had set up in their spare time. Mickey was sitting next to Martha's bed, clutching her hand as she endured the occasional contraction, while Donna and the Doctor were both reading up on baby delivery, planning to do it together if need be.

"She's still there," said Matt, coming back into the room after checking on Reinette as was his duty every half hour.

"Martha," said Donna, looking up from her book, "how much do you reckon you're dilated? If you've been here for two hours?" Matt hurried from the room wiping his forehead, which happened every time Donna mentioned anything to do with labour and Martha frowned.

"How should I know?" she snapped, "if you want to find out, go in there with a ruler."

"I'd rather not," replied Donna calmly, turning back to the book, "but I hope we're out of here in six months time.'

"How long do you think I've got left 'till this thing comes out of me?" asked Martha after a moments pause.

"We can't know that, because we don't know how much you're dilated," said the Doctor as patiently as he could. Martha looked at him pointedly, he stared back with his eyebrows raised.

"Well, do you know how to find out without the necessary equipment?" she demanded.

"Martha, even if I did, I'd feel uncomfortable doing so. Can you please just wait until you feel it coming?"

Martha huffed and let her head collapse back onto the pillow. The Doctor, taking that as a yes, got to his feet.

"Right, I'm going to go and get some sandwiches for us lot, some iced tea for preggers and I'll be back in a bit. Shout me if you need me."

"I'll be the one having the baby," Martha shouted after him. The Doctor chuckled to himself as he made his way through to the kitchen, passing Matt on the way who quickly turned and headed towards the hospital room. Deciding he would check on Reinette and the TARDIS before making a snack, the Doctor proceeded to the control room. Reinette was standing up and was leaning against the console. Talking to Marietta. The latter turned round as soon as the Doctor stepped foot in the room and he instantly froze. A wicked smile grew on her face that could only mean one thing. The scars on the Doctor's back throbbed painfully.

"Dear Reinette," said Marietta, her eyes fixed on the Doctor, "you can go. Needless to say, you have done well. Go back to the human child Rose, talk to her. You'll know what to say to her, tell her what plans I have for her precious Timelord now."

Reinette bent slightly in appreciation and headed the way that Rose had gone when she was captured. The Doctor breathed deeply. At the mention of Rose's name, his strength seemed to return to him.

"What are you doing to Rose?" he snarled, not caring about Marietta now, but all his thoughts upon Rose. Marietta laughed, cold and mirthless.

"She's alive," she replied, "just. She misses you Doctor. She says your name in her sleep. But she's not here now. I can do whatever I like."

The Doctor closed his eyes, only partly aware of Marietta leading him forcefully out of the main room, loosening his tie along the way. She led him well away from the others into another bedroom, locking the door behind her. The Doctor's mind was trying desperately to keep hold of the image of Rose's face, but it was like trying to catch smoke. It faded slowly until there was nothing left in his mind at all, and he could not block out Marietta. She was running her hands through his hair and kissing his neck furiously.

He felt his hands forced behind his aching back and still refused to open his eyes. He could tell what was happening, it wasn't hard to guess. His wrists locked together and were clasped by a piece of material that was tied so tightly it dug into his skin.

He was aware of the fabric of his clothes removed from him until he was sure that there was nothing more to take off and he felt hands against his back, moving slowly down his waist. He wanted now more than ever to imagine that it was Rose who was making this happen to him, but couldn't bring her face into his mind.

"Open your eyes Doctor," whispered Marietta in his ear. He kept his eyes closed, not wanting to look at her, but felt a sharp pain in his side, and his eyes flew open.

Marietta was over him, a small, sharp knife in her right hand. She kept her dignity to herself, covering herself up without hindering anything she wanted to do with the Doctor. She threw the knife down on the floor beside the bed.

"You might want to remember that," she whispered, "if you're sensible you won't disobey me again." She moved her face towards the Doctor's and he felt her lips press firmly against his own. He shut his eyes again and drifted back into a state of semi-consciousness.

"Where's the Doctor?" gasped Martha, grabbing Mickey's hand and almost crushing his bones.

"I dunno," said Donna, "why?"

"Because I think it's time," Martha breathed. Mickey's eyes widened and he ran quickly to a chair, breathing deeply with his head in his hands. Donna rolled her eyes and turned to Martha.

"Looks like it's all down to me," she said, grabbing the latex gloves from the side and snapping them on, "I hope this doesn't ruin our friendship," she added as she pulled up the blanket that covered Martha up.

"If you get this thing out of me safely Donna, I will forget everything else, and so will you." Martha's breathing became sharper and Mickey jumped up and took hold of Martha's hand again, encouraging her.

"Come on babe," he almost shouted, allowing Martha to use all her strength on his fingers, "come on, push! You can do it, I know you can. Push!"

After what felt like hours of pushing and shouting, Martha collapsed back onto the bed with her eyes closed, her face shining with sweat and tears.

"What am I supposed to cut it with?" she faintly heard Donna ask Mickey. The latter made no reply and Martha heard a quiet snip moments later.

"Wrap him up," came Mickey's voice. It was slightly shaky. Martha's eyes flew open. _Him? _

Zach.

"Martha?" said Donna cautiously, edging closer to Martha, her arms around a blanket, which was around Zach.

"Give him to me," whispered Martha, holding her arms out. Donna gently placed the bundle in Martha's arms. She gazed down into the sleeping face of her son and allowed the cascade of tears to run down her cheeks.

"He's beautiful isn't he?" said Mickey coming to sit next to them on the bed.

"Perfect," muttered Martha, "Just perfect."

"I would hardly say that," came a cold voice from the doorway. Mickey, Martha and Donna all turned their heads to look at Marietta.

"Get out," said Mickey and Martha together, with no hesitation. Mickey placed a protective arm around Martha and Zach and glared at Marietta with utter contempt.

"A mere human can't stop me from getting my way," she replied, smiling cruelly, "You should be thanking me that your oh so perfect child didn't meet the same end as the Tyler girl's. You ought to be careful if you want to keep things that way."

Martha was shaking with fury. "You evil, twisted—," she began.

"I'd watch it if I were you. It's not just the Doctor that I can hurt." She practically flew from the room and Mickey found it safe to take his restraining arm away from Martha.

"I'll kill her," snarled Martha, "I promise you, I will kill her if it's the last thing I do."

"I'll wait for that day," said the Doctor from the door, trying to smile. He winced as Donna hugged him but responded just the same.

"Need I ask where you were?" asked Martha. Her face was refusing to get rid of the smile that Zach had placed there. The Doctor shook his head.

"I'm just relieved that I motivated myself to get up and find you instead of someone finding me again. Besides I believe there's someone I need to meet."

He wandered over to Martha, and Mickey moved away to Donna.

"I take it that this is Zach then?" he asked. Martha nodded, grinning. "Hey Zach," he said quietly, "I've got to say you look remarkably like your father. All bald and shiny."

"Hey!" said Mickey indignantly, while Martha and Donna laughed.

"I reckon you'll be quite a lot like Mickey when you're older. Maybe with your mother's intelligence though, hopefully anyway. I'll tell you one sure thing though Zach, you will be one loved child. You've got a wonderful mother, seriously, she's amazing. She'll love you more than everyone else put together. And no matter what I say about Mickey, he'll be the perfect dad for you, he's brilliant. And I know he'll use that to his advantage sometime. Then you've got me, Donna, Matt and Rose. Your aunties and uncles who will always play games with you. We promise." He paused for a while, "Wow," he said finally, "this little guy's something, Marietta's just been at me and I can't keep a smile off my face now."

"Yeah, he has that affect on people," whispered Martha, wiping her face with her sleeve.

* * *

"Doctor, it's unlocked!" shouted Donna from the control room. Matt hastily stuffed the pair of handcuffs into his pocket that he'd been waving suggestively at Donna as the Doctor sprinted in to see Donna holding the front door open, just outside he could see a grey stone wall.

"Do you reckon that's where Rose is?" asked Mickey, poking his head round the corner.

"I'm certain of it," replied the Doctor "Right let's go."

"Wait, Doctor," called Mickey, "you'll understand if I stay here with Martha right?"

"Of course, of course, yeah, you two stay here. Donna, Matt, come on." Matt, who had been absentmindedly fiddling with the sonic screwdriver, shoved it in his pocket and ran after the Doctor and Donna.

Donna and the Doctor had already turned a number of corners before Matt had even left the TARDIS. They were jogging together through a labyrinth of corridors and stone walls that seemed to be leading nowhere.

"Do you even know where Rose would be?" asked Donna as they reached yet another dead end.

"Not exactly, but this place is like a maze, something Marietta's set up to make it that much harder for us to find Rose. Now, if the TARDIS landed on the edge, we should be heading towards the middle."

"And where might that be?" Donna looked around as though expecting to find a sign, while the Doctor dug in his pockets.

"If I could just find the sonic, I could get some sense of direction, damn, where is it?" he dove deeper until only above his elbow was out of his pocket.

"Oh," said Donna quickly, "Matt had it, he was messing around with it, he must still have it."

"Good to know, any idea where he is?"

Matt was heading in the complete opposite direction that Donna and the Doctor had taken, though he was completely oblivious to that fact. His throat stung at the mere thought of Donna and the Doctor running around without him, and with Donna pregnant as well. Although, Matt knew full well that pregnant or not, Donna would not hesitate in helping a friend. Her loyalty was one of the main things that Matt adored about her.

Matt stopped as a thought struck him. Tonight. He would do it tonight. Driven by his newfound determination, he set off at a run, with no clue as to where he was headed and whether Rose or Donna was close by.

Eventually, he reached a dead end. But the wall had a small gap about six feet up from the floor. Cautiously, Matt poked his head in front of the gap and looked inside.

"Matt!" came a voice from inside. Rose's eyes lit up and she got to her feet, though rather shakily.

"How do I get you out?" Matt asked quietly.

"We need the Doctor, he's got the sonic screwdriver." Matt grinned in spite of himself.

"I beg to differ," he said, holding up the small silver mechanism.

"Matt, you're amazing, just press down the button and point it at the crack in the wall." Matt obeyed, and to his great surprise and relief, the wall swung backwards on an invisible hinge and Rose practically jumped on him, flung her arms around his neck and kissed every part of his face she could get to before he gently pushed her away, his face burning furiously.

Rose looked terrible. It was quite clear that she'd been locked in a cellar for three months. Her clothes that were once well-fitted, even tight, hung off her and her belt of her jeans was pulled to the last hole. Her hair was hanging out of her ponytail, having obviously not been washed in so long. Her face was grubby and there were dark purple circles under her eyes.

"Have you eaten at all?" asked Matt.

"Yeah, Marietta sends a guard once a day with a few scraps. But I'm not fussed about food right now, I just want to get back to the TARDIS so I can wash my hair and brush my teeth."

"Right, let's go." Matt grabbed Rose's skeletal hand and hurried along the corridors.

"Do you not have some sort of super-spaceman sense of direction?" asked Donna impatiently as the Doctor stopped at two opposite paths.

"Only lucky guesswork Donna," the Doctor shouted back, hurtling down the left corridor.

Soon after, they flew round a second corner straight into a clearing. The stone walls covered a square perimeter of about twenty feet both sides, with bracketed torches hung just below the ceiling. In the middle of the room, Marietta was pacing.

"I promise, he will be here soon," she said quietly to someone in the corner, whose face was covered by a hood. No sooner had she spoken, she spun round to face the newcomers. "Looks like I didn't have to wait long."

"No you didn't," said Donna, before the Doctor could speak. "Where's Rose?" Marietta, ignoring Donna, spoke to the Doctor, backing him into a corner and forcing his head back to crash into a metal pole.

"It's a shame you had to bring company," she said, "it just means she can go and join the other one until I'm finished with you."

"Leave them alone," came the voice of the other one from the other side of the room. Immediately, the hooded figure grabbed at Rose's wrist, but Matt was too quick. He threw his fist into the hood and made contact with their face. Whoever it was groaned and slumped to the floor earning Matt a high five from Rose before he ran over to Donna and hugged her quickly.

The Doctor, who had used Rose and Matt's entrance as a distraction, ducked from around Marietta and ran towards Rose. Marietta was fuming as she turned to face the Doctor.

"You really think you've won don't you?" she asked with narrowed eyes. Matt let go of Donna and crept quietly around to Marietta, who, still glaring at the Doctor, noticed nothing.

"Oh I know I've not won yet," snarled the Doctor, "but now I've got Rose back, I'm not letting you get at her again. I can't let you beat us again."

"But haven't I told you already Doctor? I always win." She and the Doctor stared into each other's eyes and said nothing, as though they were talking through their eyes. Eventually, Donna spoke.

"You might want to pay attention before you say things like that." Marietta turned to look at Donna just as there was a click from behind her. She spun around to see Matt holding up a pair of handcuffs, one end attached to Marietta's left hand.

"You—," she shrieked. Matt dragged her backwards and locked the second cuff to the metal pole in the corner that Marietta had banged the Doctor's head on.

"Yeah, me," said Matt grinning, "I don't believe we've met before. Matt Taylor, English teacher, bald, saving the day. I could get used to that."

Donna beamed proudly at Matt before running towards him and throwing her arms around his neck. He pressed his lips to hers so fiercely that even Donna was taken aback and only broke apart when the Doctor coughed pointedly.

"Right, shall we get back to the TARDIS?" said the Doctor. He narrowed his eyes at Marietta on the way out which she responded to in the same way.

"Matt, that was brilliant," yelled Donna, grabbing his hand.

"Rose, are you okay?" the Doctor said suddenly. Rose nodded but didn't look at him. The Doctor frowned. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm okay," she snapped at him, "I'm just hungry, and I need to wash when I get back." The Doctor didn't try to speak to her again, but hung his head trying to figure out what he'd done wrong.

By the time they had found the TARDIS again, the Doctor still didn't understand why he could possibly be in the wrong and was growing more frustrated with himself and Rose for it. Even after he came up with a way to make Rose look at him, Donna stole the words straight from his mouth.

"Rose, guess what, Martha had the baby!" Rose shrieked in excitement which led Mickey, Martha and baby Zach into the control room.

"I'd come and hug you Rose, but my arms are full," said Martha, laughing.

"I'd come and say hello, but I'm afraid I don't smell so good. Let me go and have a shower first."

"Someone should get her some food ready," muttered Mickey as Rose departed.

"I'll go," mumbled the Doctor, hurrying out of the room.

"What's with those two?" asked Martha.

"Dunno," said Matt, "they were like that ever since they met again."

"Martha, we should get Zach to bed," said Mickey, breaking the silence.

"Where's he sleeping?" asked Matt.

"The Doctor got us this wooden cot ages ago," replied Martha, "we've just stuffed some blankets and pillows in there."

"See you in a bit," called Donna as her and Matt watched them leave the room. Donna quickly kissed Matt on the cheek and flung herself down on the bed.

"You joining me?" asked Donna mischievously. Matt grinned and went to join her, but he was interrupted by a small voice in his head. _Do it now, before she goes to sleep_.

"Donna?"

"Yes Matt," said Donna, a little exasperated that she'd just been delayed.

"Can I ask you something?" asked Matt, looking straight into Donna's eyes. Donna sighed.

"Fine, make it quick."

"Will you marry me?"

Donna froze. She stared back at Matt for what felt like ages.

"Are you being serious?" she asked. Matt smiled and knelt down beside Donna.

"Of course I am Donna. I love you. With everything I have. I want you to be my wife." Donna hesitated.

"So do I," she said.

"Really?"

"Hell yeah, I want to be Donna Taylor."

"So let's do it. Let's get married." Donna nodded.

"I love you," she said. Matt kissed her cheek.

"I love you too," he replied. Donna pulled him on top of her and his lips rested on hers.

"We should go to sleep," whispered Mickey in Martha's ear. Martha sighed and tore her eyes away from Zach. She and Mickey silently crawled into their pyjamas and into the double bed next to Zach's wooden cot.

"Martha, I was thinking," said Mickey.

"About what?" she asked.

"About how much I love you." Martha chuckled.

"I think about that quite a bit too. Is that it?" she replied.

"No," said Mickey, "how would it be if we got married?"

"I think it would be a great idea," answered Martha.

"You think so?" Martha turned over to face Mickey.

"I really do."

"Is that a yes?" he asked.

"What do you think?" Martha said, touching her lips to Mickey's bare chest.

"Thank you," he said, kissing Martha's forehead.

"Well I wasn't exactly going to say no was I?"

"I dunno, I'm not exactly perfect."

"Shut up you," said Martha, hitting Mickey's arm playfully, "you're perfect to me, and that's all that matters. I wouldn't love you as much if you were 'perfect'."

"I'm too tired to think up something really romantic to say," began Mickey.

"I love you will do," laughed Martha.

"Okay, I love you."

"You too," said Martha, closing her eyes and pressing herself to Mickey's chest.

The Doctor thrust his hand under the cold water tap, cursing under his breath. Just as he vowed never to use the oven again, there was a voice from behind him.

"Doctor." The Doctor in question spun round to face Rose. She wasn't helping the matter by wearing her most see through, shortest and lowest cut pyjamas with her hair sopping wet and dripping onto her shoulders.

"There's a pie in the oven for you, eat all of it, you need to."

"I will do, but I want to talk to you first." The Doctor stared at her, Rose dropped her eyes to the floor. "I just think that we made a mistake, and we should stop whatever we've got going on before things get this far again." The Doctor's eyebrows contracted.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm saying that we can't be, well, together anymore," said Rose.

"You think that breaking this off will help?" The Doctor tried to keep the volume in his voice down.

"Yes," said Rose, "Marietta will just keep using me over and over. Being locked up with nothing at all for three months isn't a bundle of laughs you know. I'm not in a hurry to do it again."

The Doctor felt a rush of anger in his stomach, he just wanted to run at Rose and shake her to force her to understand.

"Rose, Marietta is capable of much, much worse that this. You'll still be around me, just because you're not 'with' me anymore, won't make any difference, it'll make it worse."

"I'll go to Vegas, I'll stay with Sara and Gil, I just can't be with you anymore Doctor. I just can't." She turned away from him and picked up the oven gloves. The Doctor made a quick mental note to use those next time.

"Rose," he said, his voice almost pleading, "don't—."

"Doctor, don't make this harder than it already is. Just go, thanks for the pie." The Doctor just saw her wipe her face on the back of the glove before he turned and left the room without another word.

* * *

**I'm sorry for that, but that's the way it went when I was planning it. These things just happen. (: Also, I think the Donna and Matt moment makes up for it.**

**Please, please, please review! I only got two little reviews for the previous chapter, I wasn't overly happy about that. :S Seriously, if you're an author on this site, you know how rewarding the reviews are. :D  
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	14. Fantasies

**OMG, I actually updated within the month. :O Thanks for the few reviews I got, I always wish for more, but it never happens..Grr. :P Anyways, here's a pretty long chapter to keep you going, lots of Donna and Matt, Doctor and Rose and Mickey and Martha moments, all in all, good chapter. :P Hopefully you'll agree. Also, there's more from the characters of CSI Vegas and New York, not enough to confuse you though, it's still all about the main six.  
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**Enjoy yourself!**

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* * *

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_Chapter 13: Fantasies_

Time feels different to different people.

To the Doctor, time could not have gone slower. Time could never heal the wounds he had bestowed upon him, either physical from Marietta, or emotional from Rose. But the Doctor seemed to be waiting forever for Rose, and when Marietta paid him the occasional visit, it was forever too soon.

Rose had chosen to abandon time. She flew from England to Las Vegas and back in the conventional way without meddling with time machines and Timelords. Much to the annoyance of her London friends, Rose was becoming more at home in America than she ever had been. Particularly under the curious eye of Warrick Brown.

If anything was on Martha's side, it was time. It felt like she wasn't ever going to run out. There was time for the organisation that was so very necessary, time for Zach, for job interviews, for thinking. Lots of time for thinking.

Mickey didn't understand the concept of time. He never could. All he knew what that there was never enough time to spend with just Martha.

The only thing that Donna and Matt could do was wait and watch the time pass. Hospitals were tedious when it came to labour and Matt was ordered by Donna to fetch her a seventh iced tea.

Just as he stepped out of the hospital ward and grimaced at Mickey, the sound of footsteps echoed from down the deserted corridor and Rose ran into view.

"I'm not too late am I?" she asked, bending double to relieve her stitch.

"No, she's only five centimetres dilated," said Matt, a hint of frustration in his voice, "I've just got to go and get a drink for her." He made no effort to hurry down the hall but dragged his feet as he went.

"I can't believe I've just run from the airport," said Rose, finally getting her breath back.

"I'm glad you did," laughed Mickey, "I've been sitting out here on my own for two hours."

"How come you didn't go in there with Donna and Matt?"

"Rose, it's three o'clock in the morning and Donna is very tired and emotional. Believe me, I'm safer out here."

Rose laughed. "Where's Martha?"

"In New York, she's got a job interview at the NYPD there, and," Mickey hesitated, "I believe that is them now."

The sounds of the TARDIS materialising reached their ears from the back of the hospital. Mickey cautiously glanced at Rose who was breathing deeply.

"I just remembered," she said quietly, "Warrick wanted me to ring him when I got here." She pulled her phone from her jeans pocket, dialled quickly and walked away with the phone to her ear.

Moments later, the Doctor and Martha strolled round the corner talking animatedly to each other. The Doctor tensed slightly when he saw Rose but forced himself to relax as they approached Mickey.

"Well?" asked Mickey as Martha quickly kissed his cheek.

"Mac's going to call me within the hour to let me know, he said I don't have much to worry about though."

"That's good," said Mickey, "I notice you're calling him Mac now, not Detective Taylor."

"That was the first thing he said to me when I got in," Martha replied. "Who's Rose on the phone to?" she added, voicing the Doctor's thoughts.

"Warrick," said Mickey, the Doctor drew a sharp breath, "she rang him as soon as she heard you two coming."

Martha glanced cautiously at the Doctor whom she knew had a new dislike for the CSI that had managed to gain Rose's trust after she had left the Doctor, though he was certain he was trying to or had gained more.

* * *

"Breathe, breathe, breathe."

Donna had been waiting for this to start for so long and was now more than eager for it all to end. Matt's voice in her ear and his hand in hers was just enough to see her through.

And then it was over. Before she knew it she was breathing normally, relaxed, Matt's cheek against her forehead, both gazing down into the small pink face of Sally Taylor.

* * *

Martha got the job. The news came as no surprise to everyone else and even Martha had been secretly confident. It meant that the Doctor was acting as transportation to and from New York. He complained at first that it was using up the TARDIS' energy, until Martha reminded him that it didn't cost him anything to travel and in the end he stayed in New York for hours at a time watching Broadway shows and sightseeing, occasionally visiting Martha.

Rose was facing yet another decision that she thought she'd abandoned over a year ago. Though only one person had remained in her choices.

The Doctor or Warrick?

The question was etched in her mind all day and continued to force itself into her dreams at night. But the Doctor may never want to speak to her again. Cue Warrick. And then even though she worked with Warrick all the time in Vegas, her thoughts would always creep back to a certain Timelord who she could not lose her feelings for. Cue Doctor.

Rose used the moments of silence and loneliness to continue the silent debate in her head. Martha and Donna had both lost the adequate amount of pregnancy fat since given birth and felt ready to search for wedding dresses, bringing Rose along for another opinion. Rose was sitting outside the changing rooms waiting for a ninth round of _I think the colour's off, I don't like the embroidery, I just can't see myself walking down the aisle in this_. All the while, Rose was thinking, _Warrick, the Doctor, the Doctor, Warrick, Warrick, the Doctor. ARRRGH!_

_

* * *

_

"I think I've found it," came Donna's voice from behind the curtain.

"Same here," replied Martha's.

_Finally_, thought Rose, not being able to stand being around wedding dresses for much longer.

"Great, let's have a look," called Rose, her voice as positive as she could make it.

* * *

"Damn, what colour did Martha want the bridesmaids to be in?" wondered Mickey frantically, faced with a large assortment of ties.

"Purple," the Doctor responded automatically, "she gave me the sample, she seemed to know you'd forget. Here." He handed Mickey a small square of deep purple silk fabric.

"Thanks mate," said Mickey, "I need someone like you to be my best man."

"Now let's not get teary-eyed now," teased the Doctor. "Has Martha chosen her chief bridesmaid yet?"

"She didn't want to have one at all, but Rose convinced her to go with Donna in the end, meaning that's who you're walking back up the aisle with."

"I can't wait. C'mon, shoes next."

* * *

Martha felt her knees give way and she collapsed onto the bed. Rose hurried over, half dressed and grabbed her shoulders.

"Martha, talk to me," she said dramatically, shaking her vigorously.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Martha breathed, placing her head between her knees.

"You best be," laughed Donna from the doorway. Her hair fell in long, red curls around her shoulders, her fringe clipped back. "Rose, you're next, I need to get dressed." Rose swiftly kissed Martha's forehead before darting out of the room.

"Donna, your hair looks lovely," said Martha weakly.

"I know, so will yours when it's your turn. You'll need to put on a shirt or something with a zip so you don't mess your hair up." Martha nodded and slowly got to her feet.

"I'll have to try not to cry today as well," she laughed.

"Yeah, easier said than done. Come here, I'll help you, we've still got two hours."

* * *

"Now breathe in." The Doctor took a deep breath and Mickey imitated him. "And out." They both exhaled together.

"Now," said the Doctor, "I'm not going to help you get into a suit, you can do that on your own."

"Yeah, thanks," replied Mickey, ambling out of the control room. The Doctor turned to face the full length mirror he'd propped against the console. He ran his fingers through his hair and straightened his bowtie. After glancing quickly around the room he struck a James Bond pose, grinned to himself and posed again. His ego was gradually increasing in size when Mickey walked back in, ending the Doctor's mirror session. Fortunately, he didn't seem to notice.

"Okay, now I have to get married," said Mickey, steadying his breathing.

"Well," replied the Doctor, "technically, you're already married. You just need to do the whole fancy ceremony thing."

"Yeah, I hate the fact that I can't officially get married in a church, because I'm divorced. Still, this feels more like the real thing,"

"Of course, it should feel like this, makes it special. Now off we go."

"Oh God."

* * *

The church was cold. Compared to the pleasant August warmth of outside. Mickey knew Martha would be thanking God over and over again for letting it be sunny on her wedding day. Wedding day. Oh crap. It was nearly time.

Whatever tradition about the bride being late there was, everybody knew that Martha would be dot on time. Almost on cue, the battered organ sounded from the corner. The chord echoed round the church and everyone turned in their seats. The Doctor clapped Mickey on the back and turned to watch the procession.

Rose came down first, in the arm of Martha's brother Leo. They were followed very shortly afterwards by Martha's sister linking with Matt who winked at Mickey before taking a seat with Leo. The Doctor couldn't force himself to look away from Rose who was determined to stare fixedly straight ahead while the Doctor couldn't tear his eyes away. He noticed that she'd re-dyed her hair for the occasion and remembered how much he'd liked it how it was. He smiled to himself when he looked at her feet, she was taking a lot of caution, obviously not too used to wearing heels. His insides stung with longing as he watched her walk towards them, her purple dress clung to her waist and her hair was tied back and curly, exposing the neck that he had kissed so many times.

Mickey's heart skipped a beat as he saw the congregation rise to their feet. Daring to glance around, his heart may well have stopped beating. His eyes caught Martha's and she beamed at him, her face practically glowing with excitement combined with makeup. One of the many things he loved about Martha was that she knew she didn't need to make a show of everything. This was obvious with her dress. It was so simple, plain white with no patterns or fancy stitching. Just a flowing train that trailed behind her. Walking her down the aisle was Clive Jones, her father who definitely looked uncomfortable in a suit, both followed by Donna, grinning widely as she followed Martha. Clive kissed his daughter on the cheek and smiled at his wife whose face was streaked with tears already.

The Doctor, having left his thoughts of Rose for reality, led Mickey to meet his bride, unable to keep the crooked smile of his face, oblivious to the fact that Rose was now gazing at him remembering how much she liked him when he wore a tuxedo.

* * *

Mickey looked down at his new wife.

"I hope that everyone will agree with me when I say that Martha Jones is a truly amazing woman. Beautiful and kind, a wonderful mother and friend. I know how lucky I am to just to be around her, and I feel truly blessed that I get to spend the rest of my life with her. To Martha." He raised his glass as there was a murmur of _to Martha_ around the hall. Martha dabbed at her eyes with the napkin just as Mickey leant down to kiss her forehead. He took his seat as the Doctor raised himself up from his.

"Well done Mickey, I didn't know you were capable of such words," the Doctor said to scattered laughter.

"Get on with it," shouted Mickey, grinning.

"Just because you don't want everyone to know I helped you with the speech. And now he's going to kill me so I'll get on with it. Once again, as with my previous best man speech, I have nothing planned and will have to be stopped if this goes on for more than twenty minutes. First of all, I would like to thank you all for being here today, not only for our sake, but for your own as if anyone hadn't shown up, I'm sure they would have had Martha to answer to."

* * *

"To Mickey and Martha, no two people are more suited for each other than they," finished the Doctor. Martha caught his eye and smiled gratefully at him.

"Great speech Doctor," said Donna, making her way round to the front of the top table to talk to the others while the rest of the guests began socializing.

"Thanks," laughed the Doctor. "Now Miss Noble, I think I should buy you a drink."

"Hey, I'm up for that. Let's go spaceman."

"Okay, I best go and mingle with everyone," said Martha with only a small hint of enthusiasm.

"Cheer up," teased Mickey, "I'll meet you on the dance floor in ten minutes." He winked at her as she began to make her way over to the first crowd; six men and two women. The older of the women looked up as Martha approached them. Her hair was long and curly and had been left down on Martha's orders. Her loosely fitted emerald dress hung to her knees as though weightless and her already tall and slender figure was enhanced with a pair of matching heels. She pulled Martha into a warm embrace.

"Congratulations," she said.

"Thanks Stella," replied Martha. "How're you all doing?" The younger and smaller woman rolled her eyes.

"Oh no, hugs and congratulations first," said Lindsay Monroe hurrying forward to take Stella's place. Martha went round the entire New York team, hugging them all. Danny, Don, Sheldon, Adam and Sid. The last person she reached was Mac Taylor who, by the time she had got to him, had a small smile creeping onto his face.

"Best wishes Martha, you look great," he said, his voice so low it was almost a growl.

"Thanks Mac, and all of you for coming, I really appreciate it."

"Martha," whispered Lindsay, "a word?" She hurried forward and took Martha's hand, leading her away from the rest of the team.

"What's up?" asked Martha.

"You've not noticed?" said Lindsay incredulously, "Okay, look at Mac." Martha obeyed.

"What?"

"Right, Danny's talking. Everyone is looking at him. Except, look at Mac, he keeps glancing to someone else." Martha watched Mac intently. After a few moments she saw his head turn briefly to the woman opposite him, who was watching Danny and oblivious to it.

"Stella?" Martha almost shouted.

"Yes! Don't you see, Martha, their relationship is changing. I swear, it started to move forward ever since they got back from Greece."

"Why, what happened in Greece?"

"I don't know, but suddenly, they seem to have started looking at each other differently. But of course, we can't hope for anything to happen."

"No," said Martha sadly, shaking her head, "they're both just too dignified to make the first move themselves. If anything happens it'll go very slowly."

"I'm proud of you Martha," said Lindsay, suddenly cheerful, "you only joined us three months ago, but you already seem to know us as well as you would had you joined three years ago." Martha laughed.

"I'm just good with people," she said. "I'm impressed that you managed to figure all this out." Lindsay pointed to her chest.

"Great detective. That's me."

* * *

After much debating over how to persuade Mac and Stella together, a deep voice called from the other side of the room.

"Can Mr and Mrs Smith please take to the floor."

"Oh my goodness," breathed Martha, "I'll see you later." She felt her face heat up with the number of eyes rested on her as she made her way to the centre of the dance floor. She saw Mickey walking towards her and all humiliation was gone. He placed his hands on her waist and she locked her own around his neck as the familiar melody began to play. Martha found herself singing along to the song she had picked out from her favourite musical. One that she had taken Mickey and Zach to see two months ago on Broadway. _I know I'm who I am today, because I knew you. _Their eyes met about half way through the song. _I ask forgiveness, for the things I've done you blame me for. But then I guess we know there's blame to share. And none of it seems to matter anymore._ As the music swelled, Mickey leant down to press his lips to Martha's as his way of speaking the lyrics to her. She tightened her grip around his neck in gratitude and she felt him lift her up and spin her round. The crowd cheered.

_I do believe I have been changed for the better. And because I knew you, I have been changed for good._

_

* * *

_

This time, it was different. This time, there was nothing holding them back. Mickey let the thought consume him as he took hold of Martha's waist and held her close to him, his lips never leaving hers. It was almost as if the first time never happened, and this was it. All the excitement was still there and there was the overwhelming feeling that they were the only two people in the universe. Though this could have been helped by the fact that the Doctor had taken them to a completely deserted planet, but quite possibly the most romantic location in outer space.

"I love you," whispered Martha as Mickey's lips moved to her neck.

"I love you too."

* * *

Mac realised he was staring at Stella again and hastened to tear his eyes away. It took all of Mac's willpower to force her out of his mind and concentrate on his paperwork. He was writing a report analysis on Martha Jones regarding her work in her first six months. This sort of thing, a simple essay, would have been easy, if it wasn't for the distraction outside the glass wall in the form of Stella talking to Lindsay about something.

Rubbing his temple, Mac looked back down at the sheet of paper. It really needed to be done by that evening, so he wouldn't have to rush the next morning for the flight to London, for his brother's wedding. Mac had met Matt's fiancé, Donna, twice previously, and so was not in the least bit surprised when she invited his entire team at New York to increase the guest numbers. He suddenly remembered that he would be seated next to Stella for the seven hour plane journey there and compelled himself to only think of the unfinished report in front of him.

"Hey Mac, can you tell that this is the same dress I wore at Martha's wedding?" Stella appeared at his door just as he signed his name at the bottom of the page. He looked up and had to stop his eyes widening too far. The emerald sleeves that once wrapped around her neck were replaced by two thin straps that clung to her shoulders. Sequins had been removed and lace had been added. Stella's talent at embroidery had to be commended at a time like this.

Mac shook his head without saying anything to answer her question but also to rid his mind of the uninvited thoughts that were creeping into his head. That wouldn't have been as much of a problem if Stella's editing hadn't caused the top of the dress to be cut much...much lower.

"Great," she said simply, perhaps not wholly satisfied by his reaction. "I'll meet you at the airport tomorrow morning."

"Bye," said Mac watching her walk lightly out of the room. From the corner of his eye he saw Lindsay watching him with her eyes narrowed, he shot her a look and she immediately hurried down the corridor, grabbing her phone as she went.

* * *

The Doctor found it strange how people's attitudes could vary so much on the morning of their wedding. Mickey and Martha had both been so nervous, both worried about what could go wrong, both fretting over what they looked like, though Mickey admittedly more than Martha. However, Donna and Matt could not have been more relaxed on the morning of the 12th of December.

The Doctor watched everyone in the TARDIS control room. Matt, Mac and Wilf were all rehearsing their speeches. The groom, the best man and the grandfather of the bride who could not have gotten away with filling Donna's father's post if he'd made an effort to.

Matt glanced up to see that Mickey had gone to see Martha and his eyes sought the Doctor sitting on the captain's chair, twiddling his thumbs. The Doctor grinned at him, gesturing the seat next to him. Reluctant though he was, Matt felt that politeness was necessary on the morning of his wedding and took the place next to the Doctor.

"How're you feeling then?" he asked cheerfully. Matt shrugged.

"Perfectly fine, my only worry is that Donna oversleeps." The Doctor laughed.

"I doubt you should even worry about that, not with Martha as her chief bridesmaid."

"Yeah, I suppose that's true."

"How's the speech looking then? You all set?"

Matt, almost forgetting his resentment toward the Doctor reached into his inside pocket and pulled out a few small pieces of card and handed them to the Doctor.

"Ah, Sonnet 130. Bit daring, dedicating that to Donna, but nice at the same time."

"Yeah, I'm hoping she understands the meaning behind it and not immediately taking offence at the words."

"And excellent words at that. Genius was dear old Shakespeare."

"_Dear old Shakespeare_?" Matt asked incredulously.

"Oh yeah, Martha and I met him back in the day. Introduced him to Harry Potter a tad too early though."

"You're kidding?" Matt genuinely laughed.

"Nope," said the Doctor, popping the 'p', "he was hitting on Martha as well, dedicated probably his most famous Sonnet to her. 'Shall I compare thee to a summers day?'. That one."

Matt was temporarily speechless. "That's bizarre. Shakespeare. That's just absolute madness."

"You're telling me," said the Doctor, chuckling. "Oh, you're wanted." The Doctor pointed to Matt's phone that was buzzing quietly on the floor.

"Hello?" said Matt, picking it up. "Right, thanks. Okay, everyone, we're all set."

* * *

"Do you think you'll ever go to a wedding and be happy?" asked Martha impatiently as she straightened the Doctor's tie before they went into the hall.

"I don't know Martha, I just need to grin and bear it in public."

"Yes, you do. I want to be happy, for Donna and Matt. Let's go." She grabbed his arm and stood in line next to Rose. The Doctor shuffled between her and Mickey at the end of the line.

"I don't understand why we have to do this," whispered the Doctor as the first crowd of people sauntered forwards to shake their hands.

"It's all in the tradition," hissed Martha, flattening out her deep red bridesmaid dress. "Just grin and bear it."

* * *

Rose watched in disgust as Mickey drained the rest of his dessert away with a swig of champagne.

"Eurgh, that's vile," he exclaimed, staring at the contents of the glass.

"You think?" muttered Rose. She glanced opposite her and met the Doctor's eye. He gave her a quick crooked smile and she immediately turned to talk to Stella. It frustrated her by how much that small smile had caused her heart to melt. After over a year, (four hundred and fifteen days to be precise, not that she'd been counting) Rose had still not managed to get over him. It wasn't as though she hadn't tried. Warrick had been only too willing to help her fall out of love with the Doctor. She may well have cooperated. Warrick was gorgeous, funny and clever. But he just wasn't what she wanted. He wasn't the Doctor.

* * *

"Thank you for those words Wilf, Donna and I both sincerely appreciate them." Matt looked down at Donna as he stood up to begin his speech. She was looking at the floor and dabbing her eyes with a napkin. Subtly, he touched her shoulder in comfort. She would know what he wanted to say, she would know that had he not been about to give a speech, he would have comforted her a lot better.

"First of all," began Matt, "I would like to thank everyone for being here today, it means so much that we can share this occasion with you all.

"As a number of you will know, I am an English teacher at a high school. So, it seems only fitting that I play to my strengths with this speech and read out a Shakespearian Sonnet to my lovely new wife, and maybe amend it a little to fit." He reached into his pocket and pulled out the small cards, cleared his throat and began.

"'My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun'. I suppose that line speaks for itself, but I still have yet to meet someone whose eyes resemble the sun in any way. As Donna's eyes are bluey-grey, I find that a comparison to the sun would be completely pointless. Although I did find out that the name 'Donna' actually does mean 'mistress', so that's something. The fact that the name Martha also means 'mistress' is neither here nor there.

"'Coral is far more red than her lips' red'. As the only coral I have ever seen is a rather blue-ish colour, I have to say Matt: one, Mr Shakespeare: zero.

"'If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun'. Dun supposedly means greyish-brown but I promised myself that I wouldn't say anything on this subject except that Shakespeare, you have no idea.

"'If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head'. I would have to replace black with ginger, but that would completely mess up the rhythm of the piece. Plus, if I ever referred to Donna's hair as wires, she would surely comeback with some bald joke that meant I could never joke about hair ever again.

"'I have seen roses damask'd, red and white, but no such roses see I in her cheeks'. I don't even know why I picked this Sonnet, because all it's doing is insulting Donna for no apparent means, I don't really want Donna's cheeks to be red and white, the colour they are now is fine.

"'And in some perfumes is there more delight, than in the breath that from my mistress reeks'. Okay, reeks is not an appropriate word, but you can't get breath that smells as nice as certain 'perfumes' as Shakespeare writes, yet in the 17th century, I can't imagine that there would be extremely pleasing smells. Particularly from his wife's mouth.

"'I love to hear her speak, yet well I know that music hath a far more pleasing sound'. Some of you must be familiar with Donna's exceptionally loud exclamation of 'No. Way.' Well, as I'm sure I would rather listen to Bach than that when I have a headache, it is one of those things that defines her. I do find it amusing when she comes out with it, and as it happens, those two words are beginning to rub off on me. When she told me several months ago that she was about to give birth to our baby, Sally, I stood there, transfixed for a while, until I came out with 'No. Way.' I wouldn't be at all surprised if those were Sally's first words.

"I grant I never saw a goddess go; My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground'. Basically, if there was ever a goddess who walked on Earth, she wouldn't walk like Donna. But of course, I wouldn't want her to. Donna's way of walking is her own, how dare some goddess try and steal it.

"'And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare, as any she belied with false compare'. The important part of the piece, the part that in my opinion is worth the pointless insults, states that, if about Donna, to me, Donna is just as special, no, much more special than these women which poets will write about and sing about their beauty and perfection. Because no such woman exists, no woman, or man for that matter is perfect. And yet, this is just the view of others. To me, Donna is the most perfect being to have ever walked this Earth, because she is perfect for me. I think I can safely assume that seeing as I just read that Sonnet out and she hasn't hit me. She constantly makes fun of the fact that I'm bald and a number of other things, yet she still agreed to marry me. To me, there is nothing more important than the love I have for Donna. True, she can be loud, bossy and some other negative adjectives. But because of all those things, and in spite of them all, I shall love her completely, until the day I die. To Donna Noble. And a more noble woman there never was."

* * *

Donna felt a few tears fall down her cheeks as hers and Matt's wedding song came to an end. He'd insisted on whispering certain lyrics into her ear all the way through, but when he'd looked into her eyes and mouthed along to 'everything I do, I do it for you' and brushed his lips against hers, she couldn't take anymore and had allowed her eyes to give in.

As a much more upbeat tune kicked in and people began to make their way to the floor, Donna wiped her face and grinned up at Matt.

"I love you," she said.

"I love you too," replied Matt. After a moments pause, "now, remember our plan, can I get you really drunk now?"

"Sounds good, just give me one second, I have another plan to sort out first." She swiftly kissed his cheek before heading over to Martha who was deep in conversation with Lindsay.

"I swear Martha, he looked directly at her—." She broke off as Donna approached them.

"Martha, it's time. Let's get this show on the road."

"Excellent, Linds, go and spy some more. This is urgent matchmaking skills, I'll see you later." Donna winked at Martha as she made her way over to Rose and Martha made to sneak up behind the Doctor.

"Come on spaceman," she said, grabbing his arm, "I believe I need to dance with you."

"Really?" he asked reluctantly, tearing his gaze away from the corner where Rose was now being approached by Donna.

"Yes, of course, don't be a misery. Come on." She glanced over her shoulder as she dragged the Doctor to the middle of the floor. Donna was dancing her way over to them, as discreetly as possible, Rose's hand firmly locked in her own. Martha grabbed the Doctor's hands and began to bob her head in time to the music.

This plan had taken Martha and Donna a whole day to figure out. They would make a deal with the DJ to put on a specific song, two after Donna and Matt's. They had ordered each other to bring the Doctor and Rose onto the dance floor, giving themselves enough time, if they should resist in any way. Having memorised the song beforehand, they were able to work out enough time to bring the Doctor and Rose to the centre of the floor together. At which point, they would scarper.

Martha did almost wish that the Doctor had put up more of a fight than giving in almost straight away. That way, she wouldn't have had to improvise for two minutes and forty three seconds before the last chorus came in. She saw Donna out of the corner of her eye, backing Rose towards them, so Rose was still oblivious.

The song began to fade out and Rose was about a metre away from them.

"One more," said Martha, keeping a firm hold on the Doctor's hands. He groaned but stayed where he was. She saw that Rose was very close to backing right into the Doctor just as the song ended. Martha and Donna both turned the Doctor and Rose around simultaneously to face each other. They both froze in each other's gaze at the perfect moment for the next song to begin.

Martha and Donna hurriedly dashed away from them, high-fiving as Daniel Bedingfield's voice came out of the speakers singing _I feel like a song without the words, a man without a soul, a bird without its wings, a heart without a home. _Things could not have been more perfect.

"That was brilliant," exclaimed Martha.

"Aye it was partner," laughed Donna, "now I need to go and get drunk."

"Can I join you?" asked Martha, "I feel elated after that." They practically skipped hand in hand over to the bar where Matt was waiting with a tray of shot glasses.

The Doctor couldn't help but slap his hand to his face as the song began.

"What?" asked Rose timidly. The Doctor looked at her, as though just realising she was there. He awkwardly scratched the back of his neck and swallowed.

"Nothing, just...the song. It must have been Martha's choice."

"I miss you Doctor," said Rose quickly. The Doctor looked at her, but she was staring at the floor.

"Maybe we should talk?" said the Doctor questioningly. Rose looked up, her eyes were threatening to fill with tears. "Maybe we should talk outside," he hastened to add. He took her hand and led her from the room. Their three hearts leapt at each other's touch yet they refused to meet each other's eyes.

Once they were away from the prying eyes of Donna and Martha they stopped, both still listening to the much too meaningful lyrics of the song. _I've gotta have a reason to wake up in the morning. You used to be the one that put a smile on my face. There are no words that could describe how I miss you._

"What he said," joked the Doctor, pointing into the hall. Rose looked at him and her heart instantly melted at the lopsided smile on his face that she loved so much.

"Doctor, I—," she began.

"Rose, wait. You can't just tell me that it's better if we're not together, because we both know how much misery we're in as we are. And it won't be safer if you aren't with me. The only way you could be safe is if you didn't know me. Rose, we're stronger together. You know that you're safe with me, I can protect you," he placed his hands on her waist and backed her against the wall, "I want to protect you. Please." Rose allowed a small smile to creep onto her face.

"Doctor, you don't half make it hard for a girl to say no."

"You're saying no?" the Doctor asked, letting his hands fall from her waist.

"I didn't say that." The Doctor's crestfallen look was automatically replaced with a wide grin that lit up his eyes.

"Rose Tyler, you make my day," he said, taking her face in his hands and leaning down to cover her mouth with his. As soon as they made contact, Rose threw her arms around his neck and kissed him back fiercely.

Momentarily forgetting about everything else, the Doctor wrapped his arms round Rose's waist and held her to him. All the longing that had built up over the past year overpowered them both and it was impossible for them to break apart. The only thing keeping them in control was the knowledge that they weren't alone, otherwise they would have been reuniting in a much more physical way.

* * *

After what felt like an age but was actually ten minutes, they forced themselves apart. Breathless, they spoke at the same time.

"Stay with me," breathed Rose.

"I love you," whispered the Doctor. They both grinned.

"Always," they said simultaneously. Rose poked his shoulder playfully.

"Tell you what," she said, her tongue between her teeth, "let's go outside for a bit, talk, go and enjoy the rest of the party, and then you can invite me back to your hotel room."

"Miss Tyler, you have yourself a deal." The Doctor winked at her and kissed her nose. Rose felt her legs turn to jelly and had to stop herself collapsing.

* * *

Mickey beamed at the Doctor and Rose when they re-entered the hall holding hands. They smiled back and went over, interrupted almost instantly by a very distressed looking Matt.

"Mickey, I need your help. Donna and Martha. I can't cope with this on my own."

"What's going on?" asked Mickey, suddenly concerned.

"Alcohol," he replied simply. He and Mickey belted off to the far end of the hall where Martha and Donna were sitting beside each other on the floor, leaning against the wall.

"What are they going on about?" asked Mickey, staring at the two women who were talking in what were clearly supposed to be hushed voices.

"Your son, my daughter," answered Matt stiffly, turning his attention to Donna and Martha who, he was startled to see, were in tears.

"She'll be so beautiful on her wedding day," cried Martha.

"I know, and she'll look just like me," wailed Donna, before suddenly gasping. "She'll be called Sally Smith." Martha threw her arms around Donna's shoulders and wept into her hair.

"That's beautiful."

"Then they can have lots of children," gasped Donna. Martha was about to shout her agreement when Matt grabbed Donna by the waist and hauled her up, Mickey likewise with Martha.

"I won't be doing with baby talk, not about Sally," said Matt.

"Where to?" asked Mickey.

"Hotel rooms, stick them in the bath. Not with each other," he added quickly. "Give them some water and sober them up as much as possible before tonight."

"Why tonight?"

"It happens to be my wedding night, and drunk Donna or not, I'm having a wedding night."

* * *

**Okay, so drunk Donna and Martha was so much funnier in my head.. Ah well. The Doctor and Rose are back together, Mickey and Martha and Donna and Matt are married! It could be a while before I update again, because I have a very packed two weeks ahead of me, English coursework and college production of Fiddler On The Roof (I'm Chava, it's demanding, I'm telling you.) So, if you could drop me a review to comment on the chapter, and perhaps wish me luck for the next two weeks, that'd be awesome.**

**Thanks guys. xxx**


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